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MASTER  VIRGIL 


THE  AUTHOR   OF   THE   ^ENEID   AS    HE   SEEMED 
IN    THE    MIDDLE    AGES 


A  Seriks   ok  Si^udies 


■"X 


BY 

J.    S.    TUN  ISON 


Magicas  invitam  accingier  aiiis 


SECOND  EDITION 


CINCINNATI 

KOBERT   CLARKE   &    CO 

1890 


9  97  (]  4 


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ret 


•••    ••«    til 


COPYRIGHTED  BY 

ROBERT  CLARKE  A  CO. 
tSS9. 


6  '1  o  "I 


Teiitor,  cfira,  deos  d  le,  germana,  tu.vj)i<pjt>, 
Dulee  caput,  magican  invilam  accmgicr  ariis. 


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c  c  c 


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COPYRIGHTED  BV 

ROBERT  CLARKE  &.  CO. 

1889. 


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l^esior,  cara,  deon  et  (e,  germana,  ttivnupie. 
Dul.ce  caput,  magicaa  invitam  acoingierartis. 


The  arrangement  of  the  citations  in  this  book  was  a  matter  of  some 
study  for  the  author.  As  first  written  out,  the  notes  were  so  frequent  that 
almost  every  sentence  in  the  text  was  ornamented  with  marks  indicating 
quotations  or  references  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  Nothing  could  be  more 
burdensome  than  this  mass  of  indigestible  fragments  succeeding  each  other 
in  an  order  dependent  on  the  text,  but  not  easily  held  in  the  memory.  As 
the  only  originality  possible  to  a  \oork  of  this  kind  pertained  to  method, 
arrangement,  and  form  of  expression,  it  was  finally  decided  to  group  the 
references  with  the  sections  of  the  table  of  contents,  disregarding  some  punc- 
tilios of  authorship,  but  relieving  the  eye  from  a  fatiguing  task,  and  still 
leaving  it  in  the  power  of  the  zealous  reader  to  trace  all  the  sources  from, 
which  the  author  drew  his  information.  If  some  man  of  approved  learning 
had  taken  up  this  task ;  if  Thomas  Wright,  for  example,  had  carried  out 
his  own  suggestions  made  in  the  preface  to  his  Alexander  Neckam,  he  would 
have  saved  me  trouble  and  gained  my  applause.  The  references  are  in  mcfst 
eases  to  books  of  value,  in  some  to  the  mere  curiosities  of  literature,  and  iti 
others  to  volumes  which  have  only  the  value,  fixed  but  trivial,  of  specimens 
in  a  museum.  Whether  or  not  proper  discrimijiation  has  been  made  in  the 
text  between  books  of  authority  and  books  of  no  authority,  the  reader  can 
easily  determ.ine. 

So  much  for  the  first  edition  of  this  book.  Those  who  know  the  diffi- 
culties that  obstructed  the  task  of  getting  Master  Virgil  into  print,  will 
sympathize  with  the  author  in  his  gratficaiion  at  having  comparatively  so 
few  defects  laid  to  his  charge.  In  this,  the  second  edition,  an  effort  has 
been  m,ade  to  correct  the  errors  of  the  first,  most  of  which  involved  only  the 
change  of  a  letter.  The  inost  important  alteration  will  be  found  on  pages 
fifty-six  and  fifty-seven.  This  has  been  supplemented  by  an  additional  sec- 
tion in  the  closing  essay.  Though  the  caption  of  that  essay  has  not  been 
changed,  yet  on  second  thought,  after  examining  some  of  the  critical  notices 
of  the  book,  I  am  obliged  to  confess  it  is  misleading.  Perhaps  the  purpofic 
would  be  clearer  if  the  heading  were  Later  Eccentricities,  or  something  of 
that  sort.  Except  where  it  was  impossible,  all  the  serious  public  criticism 
of  the  book   has  been  met  by  suitable  revision.    An  index  of    names  and 

subjects  has  also  been  added. 

J.  S.  T, 


I 


SYLLABUS. 

I.  An  Apology:  How  these  essays  came  to  be  written;  the  lines 
of  study  that  were  followed;  the  proposed  synthesis  of  the 
legends  respecting  Virgil ;  the  application  of  these  tales  to  the 
name  of  Virgil  due  to  a  literary  rather  than  a  popular  inspira- 
tion ;  the  taste  of  the  middle  ages  for  narratives  concerning 
magicians ;  acquaintance  of  the  people  in  the  middle  ages  with 
the  writings  of  classic  times;  political  movements  that  were 
favorable  to  the  creation  of  a  magical  renown  for  Virgil;  the 
growth  of  superstition  as  shown  in  the  literature  of  the  period 
between  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  and  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century ;  the  problem  that  is  sought  to  be  solved  in 
this  book.     pp.  1-9. 

II.  Virgil  and  the  Devil  :  Diabolism  at  first  carefully  excluded 
from  the  miraculous  stories  about  Virgil ;  the  wonders  done  by 
Virgil,  as  accounted  for  by  Alexander  Neckam,  by  Gervase  of 
Tilbury,  by  Conrad  of  Querfurt,  by  the  author  of  the  Dolopathos, 
by  the  French  and  German  romancers ;  Virgil's  personality, 
as  .viewed  by  his  contemporaries,  tinged  with  a  suggestion  of 
mystery ;  stimulus  to  legend-making  given  by  the  notions  en- 
tertained respecting  poetry  ;  the  way  thus  made  to  a  phase  of 
demonism ;  no  necessity  for  the  introduction  of  Arabian  fancies 
to  account  for  the  devil  as  presented  in  the  Virgilian  tales; 
modification   in   the   classical  theory  of  magic,  which   at  last 


n  SYLLABUS 

rendered  demons  indispensable  in  all  tales  of  necromancy  ;  the 
opinions  of  Pliny,  of  Apuleius  and  of  mediajval  writers,  in- 
terpreted by  the  mediaeval  Germans  particularly,  to  mean 
demonism ;  the  character  of  the  devil,  as  connected  with  Virgil, 
a  manifest  creation  of  the  German  fancy  ;  Virgil  in  this  aspect 
a  predecessor  of  Faust ;  examples  of  the  tales  in  which  Virgil 
figured  with  the  devil;  traces  shown  of  an  extremely  early 
communication  with  the  Far  East,  probably  by  way  of  Venice ; 
the  development  of  the  diabolism  in  the  legends  of  Virgil,  so 
far  as  it  is  of  any  value,  held  to  indicate  that  the  craze  on  this 
subject  grew  in  terror  and  intensity,  so  that  what  was  a  compar- 
atively harmless  belief  in  the  twelfth  century  became  a  cruel 
and  deadly  fanaticism  in  the  turbulent  era  of  the  Reformation ; 
its  outcome  in  the  Faust  legends,     pp.  10-38. 

Eeferences — Comparetti,  Virgilio  nel  Medio  Evo,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  29  and 
176,  177,  92,  9.3,  94,  162,  206  ;  Thomas  Wright,  Alexandri  Neckam 
de  Naturis  Rerum,  preface  and  pp.  309, 310 ;  Thomas  Wright,  Essays 
on  the  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  238,  239;  William  J.  Thorns, 
Early  English  Prose  Romances,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  25-27  ;  Heyne,  Opera 
Virgilii,  third  London  Edition,  Fi'ta  Donait,  i.,  ii.,  x.,xvil.,vii., 
XII.,  XIII.,  v.,  Lemaire's  Edition,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  280;  Hazlitt,  War- 
tori's  History  of  English  Poeiry,Yol.  III.,  p.  180 ;  Lane,  Arabian 
Nights'  Entertainments,  Second  Edition,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  8,  90,  98, 
103,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  119,  274,  379,  192;  J.  S.  Brewer,  Er.  Eogeri 
Bacon  Opera  Quaedam  hactenus  inedita,  Vol.  I.,  p.  269 ;  Cruttwell, 
History  of  Roman  Literature,  pp.  278,  279  ;  Benedetto  Florentino, 
Opere,  Florence,  1680,  part  second,  p.  26;  Polydore  Vergil,  De 
Prodigiis,  Elzevir  Edition,  pp.  12, 13;  John  Beaumont,  Gleanings 
of  Antiquities,  London,  1724,  p.  72;  W.  Kobson,  Michaitd's  History 
of  the  Crusades,  Vol.  II.,  p.  47 ;  William  Browne,  the  History  of 
Polexander  done  into  English,  London,  1647,  p.  308. 

III.  ViRGiii  IN  Literary  Tradition  :  Veneration  felt  for  Virgil 
among  the  Romans;  the  use  of  his  works  as^ models  of  Latin 
style  by  the  grammarians  and  rhetoricians ;  debased  views  of 
Virgil  in  post-classic  times,  showing  a  legendary  tendency; 
superstitious  use  of  Virgil's  writing  in  divination  ;  the  legendary 
movement  of   the  Virgilian  tradition  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 


SYLLABUS  m 

centuries,  compared  to  modern  tendencies  involving  the  names 
of  Shakespeare  and  Goethe;  views  of  mediiwval  Latin  poets 
concerning  Virgil;  expression  of  political  and  theological  opin- 
ion respecting  the  works  of  Virgil ;  the  idea  of  Virgil  portrayed 
in  the  romance  literature;  the  legendary  tendency  shown  in 
the  succession  of  purely  literary  anecdote,  pp.  39-63. 
References— Comparetti,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  10,  40.  42,  62,  63,  64,  165,  166; 
Vol.  II.,  pp.  3,  8,  9;  Heyne's  Virgilius,  Vita  Damti,  xiv.  52, 
xviii.,  XIX.,  xr.  40,  42,  xvir.  68,  70,  xxi.  90 ;  Polydore  Vergil, 
Be  Prodiffiis,  Lib.  II.,  p.  99;  Tiraqueau,  De  Jure  Primigenio- 
rum,  Frankfort,  1574,  p.  386;  Lampridius,  Vita  Alezandri  Severi 
XXX.-  William  Kyle,  An  Exposition  of  the  Symbolic  terms  of  the 
Second  Part  of  Famt,  &c,  Nuremberg,  1870;  Bede,  Uisloria 
Ecclesiastica  Gentis  Anglorum;  Fabricius,  Bibliotheca  Latina  Medice 
et  Infimm  ^tafts,  Vol.  V.,  p.  301,  verses  36-44;  Vol.  VL,  p.  605, 
verses  17-22;  Vol.  L,  p.  356;  Leyser,  Ilisforia  Poetaimm  Medii 
JEvi,  pp.  1028,  827;  Hazlitt's  Warton,  VoL  III.,  p.  199;  Zap- 
pert,  Virgils  Leben  und  Fortleben  im  Mittelalter,  III.,  rv.,  v.,  VI.; 
Dixon,  Mano,  a  Poetical  History,  Book  II.,  Canto  vi.,  Book  I., 
Canto  rv.;  Brunet  and  de  Montaiglon,  Li  Romans  de  Dolopathos, 
preface  and  verses  1257-1268,  1-22,  1419-1425,  1950-1959,  1310- 
1328,  1826-1828  ;  Wright's  Alexander  Neckam,  p.  190. 

IV.  Virgil's  Book  of  Magic:  Inception  of  the  allegorical  method 
of  interpreting  Virgil's  poems;  some  of  them  open  to  such 
an  interpretation  ;  the  tradition  on  this  point  handed  down 
by  Asconius  Pedianus ;  vagaries  of  grammarians  and  rhetori- 
cians concerning  the  infinite  extent  of  Virgil's  learning;  the 
natural  result  an  endeavor  to  find  hidden  meaning  in  all  the 
works  of  the  poet-;  the  explanation  of  Macrobius;  the  alle- 
gory of  the  ^neid  as  expounded  by  Fulgentius ;  this  species 
of  allegory  agreeable  to  the  common  taste  of  all  ages ;  recur- 
rence of  the  allegorizing  tendency  at  the  time  when  inagical 
legends  were  first  attached  in  literature  to  the  name  of 
Virgil ;  the  apotheosis  of  Virgil  and  his  book  as  viewed  by  the 
more  illiterate  of  the  romance  writers ;  natural  that  the  notion 
of  a  book  of  magic  should  occur  to  them  ;  the  various  tales 
in  which  this  book  of   magic  figured ;   its  diabolical  character 


IV  SYLLABUS 

gradually  emphasized  :  the  legend  taken  advantage  of  at  last 
by  a  quack  whose  book  was  attributed  to  Virgil ;  a  vague 
reminiscence  betrayed  in  this  book  of  the  Virgilian  allegory. 
pp.  64-83. 

References— Comparetti,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  45-46,  78-79,  80-81,  98,  84,  142- 
143,  156-158;  Vol.  II.,  pp.  95,  124,  126,  238;  Vita  Donati,  xi., 
XXI. ;  Zappert,  ii.  A ;  John  of  Salisbury,  Pnlycraticus  vi.  22,  ii. 
15,  23;  Dolopathos,  verses  1396-1402,  2040,  2058,  1547-1552,  2225- 
2234,  4084-4101,  4207-4273,  11382-11394;  Mencke,  De  Charla- 
taneria,  pp.  26-28. 

V.  Virgil  THE  Man  OF  Science  :  Antique  notions  of  the  relation 
between  poetry  and  medicine ;  skill  m  medicine  attributed  to 
Virgil ;  the  historical  basis  of  the  legend  concerning  Virgil's 
garden  of  curative  herbs  ;  Virgil's  legendary  connection  with 
the  baths  of  Baiiv ;  guise  in  which  Virgil  appears  to  the 
mediaeval  imagination  ;  supersititions  of  classic  times  which 
contain  the  germs  of  the  Virgilian  legends  ;  notable  similarity 
of  tales  concerning  magicians ;  the  accounts  of  Virgil's 
achievements  given  by  various  authors;  an  interpolation  in  the 
biography  attributed  to  Donatus.     pp.  84-112. 

References — Comparetti,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  51,  55,  171,  175,  169,  170,  73, 
36,  Martianus  Capella,  editio  Bertochi,  Liber  ix.,  registrum 
QUI.;  Polydore  Vergil,  De  Prodigm,  p.  18;  Ada  Sanctorum, 
Jun.V.,  p.  135;  Febru.  III.,pp.  224-225;  Tiraqueau  De  iVo6i7i/a<e, 
pp.  148-149,  Vincent  of  Beauveis;  Speculum  HiMoriak,  Lib.  iv., 
cap.  61 ;  Leibnitz,  Scriptores  lierum  Brunsvlcensium.  Vol.  II.,  pp. 
695-698,  881 ;  Andre  van  Hasselt,  Li  Roumans  de  Ckomades,  Vol. 
I.,  pp.  52-58 ;  Vincent  of  Beauveis,  Speculum  Naturale,  ref .  in  text ; 
T —  ManiUius  de  Astrologia,  translated,  Book  V.,  vxxiii.,  Book 
I.;  Ampelius,  Liber  Mcmoriuli.'i ;  Brewer,  Giraldi  Cambrensi  Opera, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  290;  Robson's  Michaud,  A\.l.  TL,  p.  438;  Zimmer- 
man, De  Miraculk,  qiue  Pythacjorce,  Apollonio,  Francisco  Assissio, 
et  Ignutio  Loyola,  tribuuntur,  Edinburgh,  1762,  cap.  iii. ;  H.  M. 
Baird,  Rise  of  (he  Huguenots,  Vol.  I.,  p.  236;  John  of  Salisbury, 
Polycratieus,  i.,  4 ;  Wright,  Walter  Mapes,  Apocalypsis  Golicc,  verse 
46 ;  Hazlitt's  Warton,  Vol.  I.,  p.  269  ;  Sir  Edgerton  Brydges, 
Polyanthea,  Part  I.,  pp.  xlii.-xlix.;  Wright,  Selections  of  Latin 


SYLLABUS  Y 

Storie.-i,  p.  llo;  Douce,  lUiUiiraliotis  of  Shakespeare,  pp.  17-!-17S;  The 
English   Gesta  Homanoruni,  Chap,  xlviii. 

VI.  Virgil  the  Saviour  of  Eome:  The  Pagan  and  early  Christian 
conception  of  idols  as  nothing  less  than  the  habitation  of  living 
beings  of  an  order  superior  to  man  ;  the  utility  of  this  notion 
in  accounting  for  the  political  sagacity  and  power  of  the 
Komans  ;  suggestions  of  the  possible  course  by  which  the  tale 
of  the  Salcafio  Fiomm  might  have  been  transmitted  from  early 
times  to  the  authors  who  first  put  it  in  writing;  probable  rela- 
tions of  the  British  and  Saxons ;  how  Virgil  came  to  be  the 
hero  in  this  tale ;  successive  forms  of  the  narrative ;  applica- 
tion of   the  legend  to   places  in  Rome.     pp.  113-133. 

References— Comparetti,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  68,  70,  71,  73,  76,  77,  131 ; 
Bolopathoii,  verses  12597-12013, 12633-12041 ;  Brewer,  Boijeri  Bacon 
Opera,  Vol.  I.,  p.  53  i ;  Fird  Go><pel  of  the  Infancy  of  Jesus  Christ, 
Chap.  IV.,  6-11;  Hazlitt's  Warton,  Vol.  I.,  p.  328;  Leyser, 
Historia  Poetarum,  pp.  2081-2085;  Thorns,  Early  English  Prose 
Romanreii,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  37-40;  Boman  Stories,  or  the  History  of  the 
Seven  TI7.se  3fasters  of  Baiiie,  containing  seven  days'  entertain- 
ment in  many  pleasant  narratives,  wherein  the  treachery  of  evil 
counsellors  is  discovered,  innocency  cleared,  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  Seven  Wise  Masters  displayed.  Fifth  edition,  London, 
No.  81,  Shoe  Lane,  Fleet  Street.     [No  date.] 

VII.  Virgil,  the  Lover  :  Humorous  aspect  of  tae  magician's  char- 
acter; mediaeval  contempt  for  woman;  her  reputation  for 
cunning  and  duplicity ;  Virgil  and  the  basket ;  varied  forms  of 
this  legend  colored  with  diabolism ;  other  tales  in  which  Virgil 
figured  with  women  ;  the  Virgil  of  Spanish  romance,  pp.  134- 
155. 

Eeferences— Comparetti,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  106-113,  120-123-134,  157-159, 
146-150;  Gale,  Opuscula  Mytholoyica,  \\.  030;  Olympiodorus  JMon- 
achus,  Bibl.  Max.  Vol.  XVIIL,  Fol.  500  B;  Lane,  Arabian 
Nights'  Entertainments,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  308-311 ;  Thoms,  Early  English 
Prose  Bomanccs,  Vol.  I.,  p.  104,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  44-49;  Coussemaker, 
Adam  de  la  Halle,  p.  176;  Ticknor,  History  of  Spanish  Literature, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  114,  &c. 


VI  SYLLABUS 

VIII.  Virgil,  THE  Prophet  :  The  study  of  heathen  oracles  by  early 
Christians ;  attention  drawn  from  the  Sibylline  books  to  Virgil's 
fourth  eclogue;  Horace's  sixteenth  Epode  and  his  satirical 
humor  at  the  expense  of  the  high-wrought  hopes  of  the  Romans; 
the  persistence  of  the  idea  of  a  future  golden  age  in  the  liter- 
ature of  the  Eomans ;  the  Christian  view  of  Virgil's  eclogue, 
connecting  it  with  the  supposed  utterances  of  the  sibyl;  the 
Greek  paraphrase  of  the  eclogue  preserved  by  Eusebius; 
historical  view  of  the  opinions  of  learned  men  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  eclogue;  effect  of  the  practice  of  centonizing  Virgil  in 
the  interest  of  Christian  dogma ;  Virgil  in  popular  religious 
discourses ;  his  character  and  that  of  the  sibyl  taken  up  in  the 
mystery  plays ;  the  prophetic  repute  of  Virgil  connected  by 
the  romances  with  his  fame  as  a  magician;  the  poet  converted 
into  a  defender  of  the  faith ;  opposed  to  Nero  ;  his  position  as 
a  preacher  and  a  prophet  not  looked  upon  as  inconsistent  with 
diabolism,     pp.  156-190. 

References— Comparetti,  Vol.  I.,  p.  131,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  82-86,  183-185, 
87-88,  89-91,  196-205,  144;  Zappert,  Virgil's  Fortleben,  &c.,  i., 
II.;  Verdier,  Pantheon  Antiquorum,  p.  14,  plate  I..;  Claudianus, 
Inprimum  Ccmsulatum  Stiliclionbi,  Lib.  II.,  vers.  424-470  ;  Boethius, 
De  Cansolatione,  Lib.  II.,  metrum  v.;  Fox,  King  Alfred's  Boethius, 
pp.  49,279;  Heyne,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  179-182;  Clasen,  Oraculis  Gen- 
iilium,  pp.  143,  744;  McCosh,  Baccalaureate  Sermon,  1884, 
as  reported  in  The  Nem  York  Tribune;  Aschha.ch, Die  Aniderund 
die  Bomische  Diehterin  Proba;  Fahricius,BibliothecaLaiina  Media, 
&c.;  Vol.  v.,  pp.  302,  303;  Hazlitt's  Warton,  Vol.  IL,  p. 
217;  Dolopathos,  verses  12510-12529,  12286-12298;  Howell, 
Imtit.  HkL,  p.  289;  Yelverton,  A  Disquisition  Touching  the 
Sibylh,  London  1625,  p.  185;  Bayle's  Dictionary,  Article  on 
Virgil. 

IX.  Virgil,  in  Later  Literature  ;  Brief  popularity  of  the  tales 
in  Italy ;  the  narrations  of  the  early  English  poets  ;  the  concep- 
tion of  Virgil  entertained  at  the  renaissance  and  subsequent 
to  that  time ;  Warburton's  interpretation  of  the  Sixth  .^ineid ; 
contemporary   views    taken    of    his  works ;  Addison's    theory 


SYLLABUS  vn 

respecting  Virgil's  grotto ;  Eeckford's  rhapsody ;  the  legends 
falling  into  oblivion,  pp.  191-230. 
Bej'erexces— Comparetti,  Vol.  IL,  pp.  128-1.30,  135-139,  143,  150,  160, 
163-lGo,  234;  Chaucer,  The  'Squires  Ta'e;  Gower,  Om/essio 
Amantis,  Lib.  v..  No.  3,  Lib.  viii.,  No.  3;  Ilazlitt's  Warton,  Vol. 
II ,  p.  31,  Vol.  I.,  p.  254;  Lydgate,  Bochas,  Book  ix.,  chap,  i.,  st. 
4;  Ilawes,  The  Pastime  of  Pieasure,  Percy  Society,  London,  1845, 
pp.  137-142;  Wright,  Poems  Attributed  to  Walter  Mapes,  p.  272, 
283;  Wright,  Tlie  Seven  Sages,  p.  64;  Marlowe,  Famlus,  Act  i., 
scene  ii. :  G;  Thorns,  Ear!;/ English  Prose  Romances,  Vol.  XL,  p. 
223;  Wright,  Narraiives  of  Sorcery  and  Magic,  p.  103;  J.  C. 
Scaliger,  Poet.  Lib.  V.,  cap.  vi.;  Leyser,  HisL  Poet.,  p.  48 ;  Eney- 
cbpcedia,  Britamiica,  Article  Cento;  Lizelius,  Historia,  Poetarum. 
Grcecorum  Germaniae,  pp.  320-328;  Charlaianeria,  p.  134;  Naude, 
Apologie  pour  Tous  les  Grand  Personnages  qui  oat  este  faussement 
noupronnes  ds  Magie,  Cap  XXI.;  Mambrun,  Constantinus,  preface; 
Warburton,  Worlcs,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  78-168;  John  Beaumont,  (7/eari- 
ings  of  Antiquities,  Ijondion;  1724,  pp.  77-88;  Ilayley,  Poetns,  First 
Edition,  p.  14,  126-134;  Addison,  Works,  Vol.  IL,  p.  75;  Beck- 
ford,  Itxdy,  Letter  xxii. 


FIRST— A  J^  APOLOGY 
I 

Some  reason  exists  for  presuming  that  an  apology  is  neces- 
sary from  one  who  seeks  to  draw  out  of  their  mediaeval 
obscurity  the  magical  legends  concerning  the  poet  Virgil.  It 
will,  therefore,  not  be  out  of  place  to  say  that  the  studies 
which  led  to  the  series  of  essays  printed  in  this  book  were 
undertaken  solely  for  the  information  of  the  writer.  He 
supposed,  at  the  outset,  that  he  was  one  of  the  few  among 
men  of  letters  who  lacked  knowledge  on  this  head ;  and  that 
he  could  obtain  at  second  hand  from  authors  in  English, 
or  from  easily  accessible  works  of  the  middle  ages,  all  that 
he  sought— a  complete  and  succinct  analysis  of  the  legends  in 
their  relation  to  Virgil  as  a  poet  and  as  a  man.  This 
supposition  was  the  offspring  of  ignorance  which  was,  perhaps, 
inexcusable.  It  had  been  the  design  of  the  writer  to  limit 
his  mediseval  studies  to  a  well-defined  field  which  had  been 
outlined,  and,  as  he  had  good  reason  to  know  after  much 
labor,  was  not  frequently  traversed  by  scholars  of  the  present 
day.  Many  details  in  this  narrow  field  had  been  mastered. 
It  was  not  a  welcome  fact  to  learn  that  the  legends  of  Virgil, 
and  potentially  the  relation  of  Virgil's  poetry  to  the  literary 
and  social  life  of  the  middle  ages,  were  among  the  details  yet 


2  MASTER    VIRGIL 

to  be  Avorked  out.  For  it  did  not  require  many  days  to 
discover  that  writers  in  English  were  not  among  the  number 
of  those  who  had  discussed  this  subject  with  any  fullness  or 
clearness.  There  were  allusions,  more  or  less  valuable  to  the 
subject,  in  a  great  many  books  by  English  and  American 
authors;  there  were  important  versions  of  some  legends  in 
the  early  poetry,  and,  thanks  to  William  J.  Thoms's  Early 
English  Prose  Romances  and  Thomas  Wright's  Sorcery  and 
Magic,  one  could  easily  make  the  acquaintance  of  John 
Doesborcke's  Yirgilius.  The  remarks  on  the  subject  in  Hazlitt's 
Warton's  Sistory  of  English  Poetry  were  useful,  and  so  were  some 
things  in  Ticknor's  History  of  Spanish  Literature.  This  was 
the  best  that  could  be  done  in  English.  But  it  was  not 
difficult  to  get  John  of  Salisbury's  Polycraticus  and  Wright's 
edition  of  Alexander  Neckam.  The  portions  of  Gervase  of 
Tilbury  and  Conrad  of  Querfurt  that  related  to  the  topic 
were  to  be  picked  up  piece-meal  in  various  books,  even  though 
one  had  neither  the  Scriptores  rernm  Bnnisvicensium,  nor  Pro- 
fessor Liebrecht's  work  on  Gervase,  and  the  romance  of 
Dolopathos,  as  published  by  Brunet  and  Montaiglon,  though 
an  exceedingly  uncommon  little  book  in  the  United  States, 
was  to  be  lui<l  from  Paris.  If  one  had  nothing  else,  he  could 
with  these  documents  form  a  satisfactory  opinion  upon  the 
origin  and  growth  of  the  legends. 

Of  course,  it  was  not  long  before  the  title  of  Professor 
Domenico  Comparetti's  book,  Virgilio  nel  Medio  Evo  was 
stumbled  upon.  Having  obtained  that  work,  the  writer 
found  that  some  of  his  previous  labor  might  have  been  saved, 
and  taking  it  along  with  Zappert's  Virgils  Lehen  und  Fortleben 
im  Mittelalter,  that  he  had  obtained  a  complete  index  to 
the  literature   of  the  subject.      The  German   ti-anslation  of 


.l.V  APOLOGY  ?, 


u 


Comparetti  is  of  less  value  than  the  original  because  it  lacks  the 
numerous  versions  of  the  tales  concerning  Virgil  which  form 
nearly  half  the  second  volume  of  the  Italian  work:  The 
present  writer  had  not  the  requisite  facility  in  Italian  to 
make  a  successful  translation  of  Comparetti,  even  though 
desirous  of  doing  it.  But  in  reading  the  book,  the  conclusion 
was  forced  upon  him  that  Signor  Comparetti  had  overdrawn 
the  indebtedness  of  the  literature  of  the  twelfth  century  to 
Neapolitan  folk-lore.  Absorbed  in  this  thesis  respecting  the 
origin  of  the  Virgilian  legends,  he  had  obscured  the  fact  that 
the  first  indication  of  a  knowledge  of  these  tales  in  any  part 
of  Europe  was  given  in  the  writings  of  a  man  (Neckam)  who, 
there  is  every  reason  to  suppose,  never  was  in  Italy.  He  only 
incidentally  touched  upon  what  seemed  a  vital  point — namely, 
that,  whether  by  design  or  otherwise,  the  various  phases  of  the 
legends  corresponded  respectively  to  the  diverse  phases  of 
Virgil's  personality  and  learning  as  reflected  in  classical  and 
post-classical  criticism.  While,  therefore,  his  work  is  so 
complete  in  point  of  subject  matter  that  no  man  could  hope, 
even  though  he  were  at  the  sources  of  mediaeval  learning,  to 
add  citations  of  great  value  to  it,  there  is  an  aspect  of  the 
theme  which  he  did  not  pause  to  examine.  He  thus  left 
room  for  a  work  in  which  the  personality  of  Virgil,  his 
influence  on  the  middle  ages  and  the  mediaeval  conception 
of  his  writings  should  be  viewed  in  that  close  relationship  in 
which  they  really  subsisted. 

II 

The  writer  of  the  essays  which  follow,  while  he  disclaims 
all  pretensions  to  learning  or  to  a  scientific  method  in  the 
treatment  of  this  subject,  maintains,  nevertheless,  tliat  he  Las 


4  MASTER    V IB  GIL 

the  right  which  comes  of  care  and  patience  to  urge  a  somewhat 
novel  synthesis  of  the  Virgilian  superstitions  upon  the  attention 
of  the  reader.  The  essays  have  been  rewritten  more  than 
once — not  in  the  hope  of  literary  excellence,  but  with  the 
purpose  of  classifying  every  important  element  in  the  legends. 
No  hypothesis  would  serve  to  account  for  the  existence  of  any 
compact  body  of  fiction,  unless  it  were  itself  compact,  uniform, 
concentric,  and  it  would  not  be  satisfactory  if  it  failed  to 
account  for  every  legendary  fragment  in  its  proper  place.  The 
theory  that  these  legends  originated  in  a  growth  of  Neapolitan 
folk-lore  is  notably  defective  as  a  means  of  explaining  some 
of  the  most  important  circumstances  in  which  the  legends 
became  known  to  the  public  of  Europe.  It  is  adverse  to  the 
fact  that  Italian  writers  were  the  last  in  the  republic  of  letters 
to  recognize  the  magical  reputation  attributed  to  Virgil.  It 
is  equally  adverse  to  the  fact  that  the  first  writers  who 
related  tales  of  Virgilian  magic  were  Norman  Latinists  of 
England  and  France.  It  can  be  made  to  cover  only  that 
portion  of  the  tales  which  confessedly  relates  to  Naples.  That 
the  anecdotes  of  magical  or  prophetic  power  which  were  applied 
to  Virgil  were,  apart  from  his  name,  matters  of  universal 
belief  throughout  Europe,  and  Asia,  too,  and  were  told 
without  discrimination  of  any  person  who  gained  a  repute  for 
learning,  is  a  fact  which  no  longer  needs  proof.  Such  tales 
were  as  often  told  in  Britain  and  in  Scandinavia  as  they 
were  in  Italy.  They  were  as  agreeable  to  the  common  taste 
in  Teheran  as  in  Constantinople,  and  as  familiar  in  classic 
times  as  they  are  to-day.  Granting  this  element  of  popularity, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  presume  that  the  populace  were  ever 
anything  but  followers  in  the  adaptation  of  magical  fables 
to  the   fame    of  Virgil.     In    other   words,  the    facts    point 


AN  APOLOGY  5 

to  a  literary  rather  than  a  popular  genesis  for  the  special  fiction 
in  which  the  name  of  Virgil  figures.  That  no  vestiges  of 
the  legends  remain  in  the  popular  lore  of  Naples  to-day  is  the 
complement  of  the  fact  that  they  never  had  any  vital 
relation  to  the  people  of  that  city.  Every  circumstance  is 
such  as  to  show  that  the  evanescent  and  late  celebrity  which 
they  had  in  Southern  Italy  was  evoked  by  travelers  and  by 
foreign  writings,  read  and  to  some  extent  imitated  by  Italian 
authors.  The  materials  were  in  no  sense  the  peculiar  property 
of  the  Apulian  peasantry.  It  was  the  craze  among  men  of 
letters  and  science  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  to 
attribute  a  magical  efficacy  to  learning  and  a  magical  character 
to  genius.  Magic  was  considered,  as  the  development  theory 
is  to-day,  a  working  hypothesis  to  account  for  things  otherwise 
unaccountable.  Men  with  more  imagination  than  discreetness, 
in  the  illustration  of  an  opinion  which  was  supposed  to  be 
scientifically  demonstrable,  did  not  scruple  to  use  fiction,  nor 
to  invent  it  themselves,  when  they  deemed  it  advisable  to 
do  so.  They  might  easily  have  explained  that  they  were 
merely  applying  an  accepted  generalization  to  a  hypothetical 
case.  One  author  only  is  to  be  found  who  attributed  to 
Virgil  proficiency  in  alchemy.  It  is  manifest  that  this  author 
consulted  his  imagination  for  his  facts.  When  Gervase 
boasted  that  he  experimented  successfully  with  a  book  of  the 
ars  notoria,  he  became  a  liar  by  his  own  confession.  In  truth, 
it  will  be  apparent  to  any  one  who  studies  the  magical 
narratives  of  mediaeval  times  that  they  owe  their  existence  in  a 
greater  number  of  cases  to  a  disposition  in  writers  and  readers 
favorable  to  a  specific  mode  of  romance  writing.  A  certain 
kind  of  incident  was  credible,  when  related  of  a  sorcerer. 
Th^  romances  which  included  this  species  of   incident  were 


6  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

popular.  Therefore,  the  romances  were  written,  regardless  of 
facts,  and  even  in  defiance  of  facts  that  were  generally  known, 
as  in  the  case  of  Virgil. 

It  is  presumed  that  the  reader  knows  the  middle  ages  not 
to  have  been  the  times  of  ignorance  described  by  the  common 
run  of  writers  since  the  so-called  revival  of  learning.  If 
he  does  not  know  this  he  will  need  to  be  told  that  considered 
as  literature,  and  not  as  a  mere  philological  stalking  horse, 
the  poems  of  Virgil  were  widely  read  and  as  well  understood 
in  the  twelfth  century  as  they  are  to-day.  These  poems  had  a 
bearing  on  the  life  of  the  people  at  that  time  which  the  people 
now  can  not  feel.  Virgilian  phrases  and  verses  illustrated 
that  life  so  well  as  to  make  it  possible  for  a  wide-ranging 
German  scholar  to  gather  out  of  the  Teutonic  epics  of  the 
middle  ages  passages  formed  closely  upon  the  Virgilian  model 
both  in  the  manner  and  meaning, which  describe  the  life  of 
the  feudal  warrior  from  the  ambitious  dream  time  of  youth  to 
the  echoes  of  the  eulogy  at  the  grave  of  the  scarred  and 
grizzled  hero.  The  name  of  a  poet  so  well  known  was 
convenient  for  the  use  of  the  romancers.  Anecdotes  about 
Virgil  would  be  heard  with  })leasure,  and  there  would  be  no 
need  of  the  explanatory  preamble  which  would  be  indispensable 
in  the  case  of  names  less  famous.  The  conquest  of  Sicily  by 
the  Normans  had  given  an  impetus  to  the  curiosity  of 
Northern  France  and  England  concerning  the  antiquities 
of  that  island  and  of  the  neighboring  mainland.  Undoubtedly 
travelers,  returning  from  the  Mediterranean,  had  many  tales 
to  tell  in  which  important  names  were  brought  into  novel 
relation  with  places  and  incidents  with  which,  in  an  accurate 


AN  APOLOGY  7 

narrative,  they  could  have  had  nothing  to  do.  It  was  this 
influence  that  led  to  the  composition  of  at  least  one  elaborate 
tale  in  which  Virgil  and  the  Emperor  of  Rome  were  made  to 
figure  in  the  affairs  of  Sicily.  To  the  Northern  mind  the 
ancient  lands  of  the  Mediterranean  were  full  of  sorcery  and 
mystery.  Sicily  had  been  from  the  earliest  times  the  abode 
of  magic,  the  home  of  the  mysteries  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine. 
The  Norman  Latinists  fell  in  with  the  new  tendency,  correcting 
it  somewhat  in  the  matter  of  geography,  and  were  followed  in 
time  by  the  French  and  German  romancers.  The  Italian  and 
English  vernacular  writers  of  a  still  later  age  found  the  tales 
of  use,  but  repeated  them  fiir  more  sparingly  than  the  Fi-ench 
and  Germans  had  done.  By  this  process  of  gradual  dissem- 
ination it  came  about  that  every  collection  of  tales  or 
anecdotes  in  which  it  was  possible  to  put  these  legends  was 
ornamented-  Avith  one  or  more  of  them.  New  tales  were 
invented  or  appropriated.  Objects  were  found  at  Rome  and 
Naples  and  named  to  suit  the  narrative. 

Thus,  when  the  fashion  arose  in  the  sixteenth  century  of 
writing  prose  romances  upon  the  lives  of  magicians,  the 
materials  were  as  readily  to  be  found  in  the  ease  of  Virgil, 
as  in  that  of  Faust  or  Friar  Bacon.  The  difl'ereuce  was  that 
the  story  of  Faust  had  its  roots  in  national  character.  It  was 
a  natural  growth,  while  the  legends  of  Virgil  were  artificially 
attached  to  a  personality  which,  however  it  may  have  been 
obscured  and  exaggerated  or  belittled,  never  lost  its  historic 
place.  The  fame  of  Faust  gradually  overshadowed  that  of  all 
other  magicians.  While  the  latter  have  fallen  one  by  one  into 
the  hands  of  the  antiquary,  the  former  has  taken  on  a  new  life 
and  a  new  character  with  each  succeeding  ago.  His  magic 
wand  reveals  to  the  modern  world  how  closely  it  is  allied  to 


8  MASTER   VIBQIL 

the  mediaeval  past.  His  features  in  the  wonderful  portrayal 
of  Goethe  we  find  to  be  our  own.  He  is  the  ideal  embodiment 
of  that  spirit  which-  would  sacrifice  every  traditional  belief, 
even  faith  itself,  in  the  desire  to  know  all  things.  His 
arrogance  is  our  arrogance ;  his  ambition  is  our  ambition ;  his 
weakness  our  weakness,  and  his  fall  the  figure  of  that  ruin 
which  may  overtake  our  modern  civilization.  One  of  the 
primary  reasons  for  interest  in  the  legends  of  Virgil  is  that 
they  lie  historically  at  the  basis  of  the  Faust  legends.  In 
the  awkward  groping  of  the  Teutonic  race  in  the  thirteenth 
century  after  an  ideal,  it  is  remarkable  to  observe  how,  having 
seized  upon  the  Virgilian  superstition,  it  invested  the  tales  at 
once  with  that  defiant  demonism  which  is  the  central  character- 
istic of  Faust. 

In  such  an  atmosphere  and  under  such  influences  as  have 
been  indicated,  the  fame  of  Virgil  took  on  the  legendary 
color  which  it  retained  down  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Believing  this  color  to  be,  in  its  first  laying  on,  not  a 
matter  of  popular  impression  so  much  as  of  literary  design, 
the  Avriter  of  these  essays  purposed  to  show  in  them  the 
relation  between  the  phases  of  Virgil's  character,  as  it  appears 
to  his  contemporaries  and  early  critics,  and  the  various  legends. 
If  he  has  succeeded  in  classifying  aU  the  important  variations 
of  the  legends  under  the  respective  heads  into  which  the 
account  of  Virgil's  life  may  properly  be  divided,  the  inference 
is  just  that  the  magical  repute  is  the  creation  of  a  conscious 
purpose,  and  not  the  offspring  of  the  imaginative  instinct  in 
which  folk-lore  originates.  Chronologically  the  essays  are 
parallel  rather  than  consecutive.  The  effort  is  made  to  trace 
the  diabolism,  the  wonder  working,  the  allegorizing  and  the 
prophetic  power  attributed  to  Virgil,  from  their  beginnings 


AN  APOLOGY  9 

to  their  outcome  in  the  fables  prevalent  at  the  close  of  the 
mediaeval  epoch.  However  imperfectly  the  principle  which 
inspired  the  effort  has  been  illustrated,  it  is  one  which  affords 
a  new  view  of  the  idea  of  Virgil  cherished  in  the  timea  of 
lomance. 


/ 


SECONB-VIRGIL  AND  THE  DEVIL 

I 

Some  ten  or  fifteen  years  before  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century  there  appeared  in  the  most  notable  treatise  of  the 
time  a  paragraph  which  presented  the  Roman  poet  Virgil  not 
only  in  the  guise  of  a  mechanical  inventor,  but  also  in  a 
guise  which  to  later  ages  seemed  that  of  a  magician.  The 
occasion  which  Alexander  Neckam,  the  foster  brother  of 
Richard  I.  of  England,  in  his  work  upon  the  nature  of  things, 
seized  as  affording  a  pretext  for  relating  a  series  of  improbable 
anecdotes  was  an  argument  in  behalf  of  schools  and  education. 
In  addition  to  other  examples  of  men  who  had  been  useful  to 
the  world,  because  of  their  studies,  he  cited  that  of  Virgil. 
It  was  learning  which  enabled  Virgil  to  relieve  the  city  of 
Naples  from  a  pest  of  leeches  which  infested  the  water,  and 
this  he  did  by  placing  a  golden  leech  in  one  of  the  wells. 
The  virtue  of  this  image  was  shown  many  years  afterward ; 
for  when  it  was  taken  out  with  the  settlings  of  the  well,  an 
infinite  army  of  leeches  again  plagued  the  city.  In  order  to 
aid  the  dealers  in  fresh  meat,  who  found  it  impossible  to  keep 
their  wares  untainted  any  length  of  time,  Virgil  constructed 
shambles,  using  the  virtues  of  some  unknown  herbs  by  which 
flesh  could  be  kept  clean  and  wholesome,  even  for  a  period  of 


AND  THE  DEVIL  H 

five  hundred  years.  Learning  it  was  that  enabled  this 
renowned  poet  to  surround  his  garden  with  an  immovable 
atmosphere,  and  to  construct  a  bridge  of  air,  by  the  use  of 
which  he  was  carried  to  any  place  he  wished.  At  Rome, 
likewise,  he  built  a  noble  palace  in  Avhich  every  country 
known  was  represented  by  a  wooden  image,  holding  in  its 
hand  a  bell.  Whenever  the  people  of  any  country  ventured 
to  plot  treason  against  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
the  image  of  the  traitorous  nation  began  at  once  to  ring  its 
bell.  Then  a  knight  of  bronze,  seated  on  a  horse  of  bronze  at 
the  summit  of  the  palace,  brandished  his  spear  and  pointed  in 
the  direction  of  the  region  where  rebellion  had  broken  out. 
The  poet  once,  when  asked  how  long  this  noble  edifice 
would  be  preserved  liy  the  gods,  replied:  "It  will  stand 
until  a  virsjin  shall  bear  a  son."  Those  who  heard  him 
applauded  iiis  words,  and  replied :  '  'Then  it  will  stand 
forever."  But  at  the  nativity  of  the  Saviour,  it  is  said,  the 
building  suddenly  fell  into  a  heap  of  ruins.  In  these  few 
lines  Neckam  put  not  only  the  outline  of  the  achievements 
attributed  to  the  art  of  Virgil,  but  indicated  his  reputation  as 
a  prophet  who  foresaw  the  coming  of  Christ.  These  were  the 
important  features  in  the  development  of  the  legend  from  first 
to  last.  A  story  respecting  a  bronze  fly,  told  by  John  of 
Salisbury  in  his  Polycraticus  shows  that  a  portion  of  what 
Neckam  related  might  have  been  known  early  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  twelfth  century.  Neckam's  manner  of  presenting 
the  subject  indicates  that  he  presumed  on  the  previous 
knowledge  of  his  readers.  The  history  of  the  literature 
relating  to  the  subject  of  Virgilian  magic  from  this  point  is 
not  difficult  to  trace.  Near  the  time  of  Neckam,  Helinand,  a 
Flemish  trouvere,  turned  monk,  gathered  up  the  magical  tales 


12  MASTER   VIRGIL 

which  he  had  heard  or  invented  concerning  Virgil,  and 
included  them,  with  many  other  tales  of  the  like  character,  in 
a  pretended  chronicle  of  the  world.  Some  years  later  Gerv^ase 
of  Tilbury,  a  man  who  traveled  much,  but  who  was  of  narrow 
and  credulous  mind,  devoid  of  a  regard  for  facts,  and  incapable 
of  accurately  testing  his  own  experiences,  included  some 
variations  of  the  Virgilian  tales  in  a  work  which  he  wrote 
to  amuse  the  leisure  of  the  Emperor  Otto  IV.  What 
Neckam  had  vaguely  spoken  of  under  the  general  phrase 
of  learning,  Gervase  described  as  mathematic  art.  Con- 
rad of  Querfurt,  a  German  writer  near  the  time  of 
Gervase,  used  the  words  magic  arts  to  describe  Virgil's  sup- 
posed power. 

In  the  meanwhile  a  work,  the  indirect  result  of  the  conquest 
of  Sicily  by  the  Normans,  had  appeared  about  the  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  which  was  apparently  widely  read. 
The  romance  of  Dolopathos,  while  it  was  in  outline  only  a 
variation  of  the  tale  of  the  King  and  his  Seven  Counselors, 
was  widely  different  from  that  oriental  fiction  in  its  details,  and 
particularly  in  the  fact  that  Virgil  as  a  sage,  as  an  astronomer 
and  as  a  necromancer  was  made  the  central  figure  in  the 
narrative,  which  was  one  of  great  length  and  ot  much 
descriptive  power.  The  outward  semblance  of  Virgil,  the 
necromancer,  was  so  graphically  portrayed  in  this  work  that 
subsequent  romancers  copied  the  picture  without  change. 
When  the  German  verse  makers,  imitating  models  which  they 
found  in  the  French,  took  up  the  Virgilian  legends,  they 
interpreted  the  doubtful  phrases  about  astronomy,  and  learning, 
and  the  seven  arts  to  mean  that  Virgil  had  come  by  his  excep- 
tional skill  as  a  mechanic,  a  sculptor  and  an  architect  through 
collusion  with  demons. 


AND  THE  DEVIL  13 

II 

But  in  Neckam  and  in  the  Dolopathos,  with  all  the  fantastic 
additions  to  his  fame,  Virgil  still  retained  his  reputation  as  a 
poet.  The  phrase  of  Neckam,  vates  gloriosus,  is  enough  of  itself 
to  disprove  the  notion  once  popular  in  respect  to  these  legends 
— namely,  that  they  originated  in  the  superstitious  veneration 
felt  for  one  of  the  numerous  mediseval  Virgils  with  whom  the 
author  of  the  ^neid  has  been  confounded.  True,  it  is  not 
easy  for  a  modern  reader  to  conceive  how  such  incredible  tales 
could  have  been  associated  with  the  name  of  Virgil.  We  do 
not  know  many  facts  concerning  him,  but  these  furnish  the 
outline  of  the  studious,  contemplative  life  which  he  must  have 
led  in  the  composition  of  his  poems.  The  biography  of  a 
recluse  rarely  furnishes  more  even  to  the  most  persistent 
curiosity.  To  know  that  the  poet  was  the  son  of  a  humble, 
but  well-to-do  provincial ;  that  he  was  liberally  educated  ;  that 
he  inherited  a  small  farm  near  Mantua ;  that  he,  along  with 
his  countrymen  in  Transpadane  Gaul,  suffered  severely  from 
the  confiscations  which  followed  the  battle  of  Philippi;  that 
he  was  the  cherished  friend  of  Horace  and  Maecenas ;  that  he 
was  enriched  by  Octavian's  kindness ;  was  even  in  his  lifetime 
accounted  the  greatest  poet  of  the  Roman  world ;  that  he 
lived  in  studious  retirement  at  Rome,  and  especially  at  Naples ; 
traveled  late  in  life  to  Athens,  died  from  a  sunstroke  at 
Brundisium  on  his  return  to  Italy,  and  was  buried  near 
Naples;  that  he  was  tall  in  person  and  dark  in  appearance, 
melancholy,  yet  kindly  in  his  disposition,  pure  in  morals  and 
modest  even  to  rusticity  in  his  demeanor — to  know  these  things 
is,  perhaps,  to  know  all  that  was  important  in  the  poet's 
history.     The  witticism  attributed   to   Octavian,    that   when 


14  MASTER   VIRGIL 

seated  between   his   two  friends,  Maro  and  Horace,  he  was 

between  sighs  and  tears,  lets  us  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
chronic  asthmatic  complaint  to  which  Virgil  was  subject.  The 
poems  of  Horace  evince  the  kindness  and  lovableness  of  his 
friend.  If  there  is  a  lack  of  important  details  in  the  biography, 
it  is  due  to  a  want  of  incident  in  Virgil's  career,  and  to  what 
may  be  called  a  lack  of  variety  and  color  in  his  outward 
seeming.  He  is  rarely  represented  to  us  by  his  early  biographer 
except  in  company  with  his  books.  His  own  poems  he  read, 
we  are  informed,  with  exquisite  modulation  and  emphasis. 
Sometimes,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  such  a  reading,  he  thpught 
of  felicitous  phrases  to  complete  verses  which  he  had  found 
impossible  to  finish  in  his  closet.  Tradition  points  out  two 
lines  as  having  been  perfected  in  this  manner.  He  had  written 
"Misenum  4^olidem,"  and  in  pronouncing  these  two  words, 
it  suddenly  occurred  to  him  to  add  "Quo  non  prsestantior 
alter;"  and  so  with  the  other  verse: 

Aere  ciere  viros — Martemque  accendere  cantu. 
The  contrast  between  his  character  and  that  of  Horace  was 
as  lively  as  their  friendship.  Both  were  scholars  ;  but  the  one 
was  essentially  a  man  of  the  world,  the  other  a  man  of  books. 
Horace  was  a  man  whom  everybody  could  approach,  and  whom 
all  were  delighted  to  know.  His  wit  charmed  every  circle. 
He  was  gifted  with  that  genial  sympathy  which  unlocks  every 
heart.  The  passions  of  the  high-born  youth,  the  humors  of  the 
street,  the  scurrility  of  the  vaporing  rustics  on  the  road  to 
Brundisium  were  all  alike  interesting  to  him.  But  Virgil  was 
such  an  one  as  only  his  most  intimate  friends  could  approach. 
To  the  people  of  the  cities  Avhich  he  frequented,  his  tall  figure 
and  shambling  gait  were  better  known  than  he  could  have 
■wished;  for  even  the   respectful   plaudits  of   the   multitude 


AND   THE  DEVIL  15 

confu.sed    him,    and   the  cry,  "There  goes  Virgil,"  drove  him 
instantly  to  seek  shelter  in  the  nearest  house  until  the  inquisitive 

crowd  dispersed.  His  relations  with  Octavian  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  make  his  figure  well  known  to  the  populace  of 
Rome.  The  story  of  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  audience 
in  a  theater  recognized  his  verses,  rising  to  salute  the  author 
in  the  manner  usually  reserved  for  Octavian  alone,  indicates, 
also,  that,  while  his  appearance  was  familiar,  he  was  treated 
with  reverential  homage.  No  doubt  the  universal  impression 
of  the  ancient  world  respecting  poetry  had  something  to  do 
with  the  early  superstitions  respecting  Virgil.  lu  his  lifetime, 
and  for  a  long  subsequent  period,  men  great  in  literature  were 
separated  from  the  people  by  the  very  same  lines  as  the  men 
of  high  l)irth.  Genius  was  no  sooner  recognized  than  it  was 
admitted  to  the  imperial  circle.  This  elevation  to  the  highest 
rank  withoui  previous  advantages  of  birth  or  fortune,  with  no 
preliminary  course  in  arms  or  politics,  served  to  heighten  the 
mystery  of  the  literary  art  in  the  eyes  of  the  ungifted 
multitude.  There  must  have  been,  the  people  Avell  might 
think,  some  foreshadowing  of  such  strange  events.  If  the 
ruler,  himself  a  divinity,  chose  such  men  for  his  nearest  friends, 
he  must  have  been  guided  by  some  supernatural  power.  A 
deity  presided  surely  when  these  favorites  of  fortune  were 
brought  into  the  world.  So,  if  we  would  understand  how 
superstition  could  envelop  Virgil's  name  in  a  cloud  of  mystery 
we  must  contemplate  him  in  his  personality  and  in  his  works, 
and  we  must  form  an  estimate  of  the  influence  of  these  upon  the 
people  of  Virgil's  time  and  of  subsequent  times.  It  is  difficult 
to  imagine  that  an  easy-going  man  of  the  Avorld  like  Horace 
should  become  the  subject  of  a  myth.  Nevertheless,  such  a  myth 
arose.     How  much  greater  the  opportunity  was  in  the  case  of 


16  MASTER    VIBGIL 

Virgil  for  weird  fancies  can  easily  be  understood.  Germs  of 
a  legend  were  latent  in  the  conception  formed  of  him  by  his 
contemporaries.  They  attributed  to  him,  for  example,  an 
extraordinary  knowledge  of  Roman  priestcraft.  By  the 
natural  mutation  of  words  under  the  influence  of  a  new 
religion,  this  came  to  mean  that  he  was  versed  in  demonology. 
The  revolution  in  literature  and  science  led  to  changes  in  the 
signification  of  important  descriptive  words.  What  was 
thought  iu  A'irgil's  time  to  be  the  true  and  praiseworthy 
science  of  divination  was  looked  upon  in  the  middle  ages  as 
a  part  of  magic  not  less  diabolical  than  the  other  departments 
of  that  black  science.  In  the  present  age  divioation  is  con- 
sidered the  mere  pretense  and  trickery  of  mountebanks. 
Suppose  that  Virgil  had  done  for  himself  what  was  done  by 
others  in  his  behalf — that  is,  had  laid  claim  to  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  astrology ;  such  an  assertion  in  modern 
times  would  be  sufficient  to  fix  upon  him  the  character  of  a 
quack.  In  the  middle  ages,  on  the  contrary,  it  would  have 
increased  his  reputation  as  a  magician.  These  words  are  in 
themselves  the  same,  the  thread  of  their  history  is  continuous, 
but  it  is  not  all  of  one  color. 

Thus  a  whole  romance,  an  entire  web  of  legend  may  be 
woven — indeed,  has  been  Avoven — out  of  the  potentialities  of  a 
single  word.  In  view  of  this  fact,  that  must  be  deemed  a  very 
shallow  hypothesis  which  looked  upon  the  romance  writing 
and  legend  building  of  Europe  as  the  result  of  contact  with 
the  Arabians.  While  acknowledging  the  oriental  element  in 
tales  about  Virgil,  as  well  as  in  most  other  necromantic  tales, 
we  may  safely  maintain  that  this  element  had  been  at  work 
through  devious  and  now  unknown  channels  from  the  earliest 
times.     The  European  was  once  an  oriental,  and  the  last  things 


ANT)   THE  DEVIL  17 

he  is  likely  to  forget  are  the  superstitions  of  his  ancient  home. 
There  is,  indeed,  a  striking  similarity  between  the  literary  and 
even  the  religious  history  of  the  Arabians  and  that  of  mediseyal 
Europe.  The  tendency  of  both  Europeans  and  Asiatics  to 
wars  for  the  dissemination  of  their  respective  creeds  was 
shown  at  what  may  roughly  be  called  the  same  epoch.  On 
both  sides  were  displayed  at  the  same  time  the  fanaticism, 
asceticism,  blind  devotion,  credulity  and  alleged  miraculous 
powers,  characteristic  of  a  zeal  not  tempered  with  knowledge. 
The  classical  age  of  Arabian  literature  was  an  age  of  paganism, 
and  the  same  was  true  of  Europe.  Causes  similar  to  those 
which  barbarized  the  Latin,  also  corrupted  the  ancient  purity 
of  the  Arabic  language.  While  mediaeval  Europe  was  at 
work  finding  new  uses  for  the  fragments  ot  ancient  art  and 
learning  that  had  descended  to  it,  mediaeval  Arabians  were 
employed  largely  with  the  same  material,  drawn  ultimately 
from  the  same  sources.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore, 
if  the  results  of  the  literary  development  of  these  long 
separated  and  conflicting  races  should  have  been  at  many 
points  almost  identical.  When  the  imagination  of  the 
Arabians  was  absorbed  in  the  attractions  of  Greek,  Indian  and 
Persian  tales,  transforming  them  into  romances  of  which  Cairo, 
Bagdad  or  Damascus  were  the  legendary  centres,  the  fancy  of 
the  European  races  was  equally  active,  but  it  naturally 
transferred  the  scene  ot  the  tales  which  it  recast  to  localitiee 
with  which  it  had  at  least  a  nominal  familiarity.  The 
relation  of  these  literatures,  down  to  a  comparatively  recent 
period,  was,  therefore,  not  that  of  dependence  upon  each 
other,  but  that  of  a  common  origin.  Nothing  shows  this 
more  clearly  than  the  demonology  of  tales  as  told  respectively 
by  the  oriental  and  the  European.     The  Arab  converted  the 


18  MASTER   VIE  OIL 

ancient  fiery  gods  of  his  desert  home  into  afreets  and  jinn ; 
the  European  demons,  once  the  deities  of  the  forest,  took  on 
the  forms  and  the  malignant  disposition  of  reptiles,  inhabiting 
fens  and  marshes  and  dank  caverns,  or  lurking  in  the  moist 
depths  of  the  soil  and  in  the  wells  and  fountains. 


Ill 


In  the  case  of  Virgil,  few  or  none  of  the  legends  are  without 
a  counterpart,  either  a  tale  or  a  oelief,  popular  in  classic 
times.  The  general  theory  of  magic  which  pervaded  Europe 
in  the  middle  ages  owed  its  existence  to  classical  tradition, 
modified  by  the  vast  accumulation  of  isolated  facts  in  natural 
science,  and  by  the  change  in  religious  belief  from  polytheism 
to  monotheism.  Pliny  was  as  severe  in  his  denunciation  of 
magic  as  any  modern  writer  could  be,  but  he  included 
divination,  the  most  profitable  branch  of  trade  with  the  quack 
astrologer  and  magician  of  the  present  day,  in  the  circle  of 
legitimate  sciences.  Many  things  which  he  related  as  facts  of 
natural  science  were  in  truth  only  the  figments  of  popular 
imagination,  not  yet  released  from  the  bonds  of  that  nature 
worship  whose  ritual  is  magic.  Apuleius  talked  of  mathemati- 
cians as  if  their  principal  use  was  in  the  calculation  of 
nativities.  His  defence,  when  accused  of  magic,  is  one  of  the 
works  which  l)ring  us  near  the  superstitions  of  classic  times. 
Although  the  charges  against  him  were  trumped  up  by  his 
enemies,  yet,  to  have  had  any  plausibility  at  all,  they 
must  have  been  in  agreement  with  the  general  opinion  of  the 
times  as  to  what  constituted  magical  practices.  From 
Apuleius's  speech,  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  in  classical  Europe 
devotion  to  philosophy,  and  especially  to  natural  science,  was 


AJSD    THE  DEVIL  19 

vulgarly  deemed  an  indication  of  a  taste  for  magic;  that 
poetry  and  music  were  a  species  of  incantation ;  that  a  mirror 
in  the  hands  of  a  philosopher  was  supposed  to  be  an  instrument 
of  supernatural  potency  ;  that  a  mysterious  disease  like  epilepsy 
was  thought  to  be  the  result  of  a  magician's  malice ;  that  the 
inhabitants  of  certain  countries  were  specially  skillful  in  magic 
arts;  that  lamps,  altars  and  the  sacrilegious  imitation  of 
religious  rites  could  be  used  to  baleful  purpose  by  the  magician  ; 
that  statues  were  sometimes  endued  with  magical  powers,  and 
that  little  images,  in  the  nature  of  the  mediiBval  talismans, 
were  not  infrequently  used ;  that  an  agate,  upon  being  sub- 
jected to  the  action  of  fire,  became  sensitive  to  the  diseased 
condition  of  the  human  body,  and  revealed  unsoundness  when 
it  was  not  otherwise  apparent;  and  that  the  divinations  of 
astrologers  and  the  miracles  of  magicians  were  rendered 
successful  by  an  order  of  beings  intermediate  between  gods 
and  men.  These  particulars,  and  others  of  a  similar  character, 
formed  the  magic-lore  of  the  middle  ages,  and  some  of  the 
very  beliefs  which  Apuleius  discussed  involve  the  main  points 
in  the  legends  of  A^irgil. 

Apuleius  was  a  vain  man.  He  was  not  unwilling  to  have 
the  reputation  of  magic,  if  he  could  evade  the  penalty. 
Therefore,  his  argument  was  so  conducted  as  to  lead  his  hearers 
to  an  opinion  of-  magic — not  as  Avholly  nugatory,  which  had 
been  the  object  of  Pliny's  historical  sketch,  but  as  distinguished 
into  two  kinds,  the  one  honorable  and  useful  to  men,  the  other 
wicked  and  malevolent.  This  distinction  has  been  urged  over 
and  over  again  by  theorists  in  times  when  a  belief  in  magic 
prevailed.  It  was  argued  that  magic,  in  the  hands  of  a  good 
man,  was  equivalent  to  turning  the  weapons  of  evil  spirits 
against  themselves.     But  this  hypothesis  was  far  removed  from 


20  MASTER   VIRGIL 

the  popuiiir  convictions  on  the  subject,  and  the  words  magic 
and  magician  never  have  been  used  in  a  good  sense  without 
manifest  reluctance.  While  the  conception  of  magical  efficiency 
was  involved  in  the  tales  about  Virgil,  men  were  slow  to  write 
down  the  disagreeable  word.  Alexander  Neckam  would 
doubtless  have  resented  the  use  of  it  as  not  applicable  in  any 
sense  to  the  "glorious  poet."  As  has  been  said,  Conrad  of 
Querfurt,  a  German  clergyman  and  statesman,  who  wrote 
shortly  after  Neckam,  was  not  troubled  by  the  same  scruples. 
He  was  naturally  prejudiced  against  the  Italians,  and  probably 
was  not  affected  by  any  reverence  for  the  name  of  Virgil.  He 
described  Virgil's  peculiar  learning  by  the  term  ars  magica. 
Both  writers  meant  exactly  the  same  thing.  The  common 
opinion  of  the  time  was  that  mechanical,  astrological  or 
mathematical  means  were  possible  by  which  the  most  aston- 
ishing marvels  could  be  performed.  This  precluded  at  first 
the  idea  of  diabolism  in  the  minds  of  scholars  from  being 
attached  to  these  narratives  and  others  of  a  similar  character, 
because  it  was  presumed  that  a  scientific  hypothesis  had  now 
been  formed  which  satisfactorily  accounted  for  supposed  facts 
of  history.  This  hypothesis  once  granted,  the  chain  of  evidence 
was  satisfactory  to  the  mediaeval  mind  which  rested  upon 
authority  with  so  much  confidence.  It  was  accepted  as  a  fact 
that  there  had  been  a  temple  in  Rome  called  the  Salvatio 
RovKe  which  enabled  the  Romans  to  discover  treason  plotted  in 
any  part  of  the  Empire,  and  that  this  temple  fell  in  accordance 
with  proj^hecy  when  Christ  was  born.  Now  there  was  testimony 
to  prove  that  Virgil  had  been  a  prophet  of  Christ,  not  only  in 
his  own  writings,  but  in  the  writings  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Church.  That  his  learning  was  infinite  had  been  shown  by 
Macrobius;  therefore,  no  man  of  antiquity  was  more  likely  to 


AND   THE  DEVIL  21 

have  built  the  temple  than  Virgil.  In  many  parts  of  liis  work, 
De  Naturis  Eerum,  Neckam's  reasoning  is  of  this  inconclusive 
sort.  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  somewhat  later  than  Conrad,  like 
Neckam,  reluctant  to  ascribe  the  Virgilian  wonders  to  magic, 
used  technical  phrases  current  in  that  age,  calling  Virgil's 
extraordinary  power  a  vis  mathesis  or  an  ars  maifiematica.  These 
phrases  do  not  seem  now  to  be  capable  of  a  double  meaning, 
but  that  they  had  diverse  meanings  in  the  middle  ages,  and 
that  these  variations  of  sense  were  prejudicial  to  true  science, 
is  shown  in  a  notable  remark  of  Roger  Bacon  which  not  only 
explains  the  conflicting  notions  entertained  of  mathematics, 
but  indirectly  shows  exactly  what  Gervase  meant  by  his  tender 
and  dubious  expressions  as  applied  to  Virgil.  "One  viath&- 
matica,"  wrote  Bacon,  "is  derived  from  mathesi,  the  middle 
syllable  short  and  aspirated ;  this  kind  of  mathematics  is  a 
part  of  souad  learning  and  can  not  be  reprehended,  as  I  have 
shown  [in  another  place]  by  the  words  of  holy  men  and  of 
philosophers.  The  other  is  derived  from  matesi,  the  middle 
syllable  long  and  unaspirated,  from  mantis,  or  amanteia,  as 
says  Jerome,  This  is  the  second  of  the  two  divisions  of  magic 
which  are  viantike,  matJiematike,  maleficium,  praestigiwn,  sortu 
lecjitim.  And  this  only  of  the  two  kinds  of  mathematics  is 
condemned  by  holy  men  and  philosophers,  as  appears  from 
Aristotle,  Plato,  Pliny,  Tully  and  all  the  rest."  In  the  confusion 
of  mind  which  prevailed  at  the  time  when  Gervase  wiote,  he 
could  not  have  been  capable  of  making  this  distinction.  All 
mathematics  was  magic  to  him.  A  knowledge  of  geometry 
implied  a  direct  and  marvellous  power  over  the  forces 
of  nature.  Therefore,  whatever  form  of  words  he  or  others 
used  respecting  Virgil,  they  left  but  one  impression  on 
the   minds    of   their    readers.      This     impression    was     one 


22  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

promptly  interpreted    by   the   German    romancers   to   mean 
diabolism. 


IV 


To  the  mediieval  Christian  it  was  clear  that  every  pagan  had 
been  in  the  nature  of  things  a  worshiper  of  devils.  The  cor- 
rupt Platonism  of  the  early  Christian  centuries  had  its 
counterpart  in  the  history  of  each  newly-converted  race. 
Apuleius  only  expressed  the  common  belief  of  all  men  in  his 
famous  argument  to  prove  the  existence  of  an  aerial  order  of 
beings — that  nature  would  not  suffer  the  fourth  element,  air, 
to  be  without  inhabitants  suited  to  its  own  mobile  character, 
when  all  the  other  elements  were  replete  with  life;  but 
Christians,  learned  and  unlearned,  accepted  this  argument  in  a 
new  sense  Avrested  from  the  obscure  phrase  of  Paul  respecting 
the  prince  of  the  j^ower  of  the  air.  The  beings  of  the  air, 
gifted  with  abilities  above  those  of  humanity,  were  supposed 
to  be  altogether  evil  and  maleficent.  By  the  workings  of  this 
principle,  the  pantheons  of  Europe  were  gradually  converted 
into  collections  of  fiends,  fairies  and  hobgoblins,  deprived  of 
their  divinity,  but  not  shorn  of  their  power ;  and  natural  and 
theological  science  was  burdened  for  ages  with  the  labor  of 
accounting  for  creatures  now  denied  any  reality  Avhatever.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  the  Latin  races,  although  they  retained 
many  of  their  early  superstitions,  ceased  to  use  them  indis- 
criminately as  a  means  of  explaining  everything  Avhich  they 
did  not  understand.  With  the  Germans  the  case  was  diflTerent. 
The  conversion  of  the  Teutonic  tribes  to  Christianity  had  been 
a  slow  and  gradual  process.  Here  and  there  paganism,  with 
its  antique  ritual,  held  its  place  for  centuries  in  the  midst  of 


AND   THE  DEVIL  23 

communities  nominally  Christian.  Even  when  this  state  of 
things  passed  away,  the  Germans  retained  to  a  greater  measure 
than  other  races  the  belief  in  those  existences  intermediate 
between  man  and  the  inhabitants  of  Heaven.  They  felt 
themselves  to  be  living  continually  in  the  society  of  these 
mysterious  invisible  powers  whose  workings  they  beheld  in  the 
violent  winds,  in  the  electric  storm,  in  the  cloud-burst  and  the 
earthquake,  and  in  the  accidents  of  human  life.  This  ancient 
faith  was  woven  into  their  language,  and  it  was,  moreover, 
something  to  which  the  early  missionaries  could  not  object, 
since  there  was  nothing  in  the  new  creed  that  forbade  this 
particular  manifestation  of  popular  credulity.  But  the  tend- 
ency of  Christian  teaching  was  to  lower  the  reputation  of 
these  subaltern  deities  of  the  forest,  the  fountain,  the  marsh 
and  the  river.  In  the  thirteenth  century  there  were  still 
good  fairies,  but  the  malicious,  evil  spirits  were  far  the  more 
numerous  among  the  people  of  the  air.  When  the  wonder- 
working of  Virgil  came  to  be  a  theme  of  popular  writings  in 
Germany,  it  was  naturally  subjected  to  the  influence  of  this 
universal  cult. 

Another  thing  which  had  to  do  with  the  infusion  of  demonism 
into  these  and  other  tales  of  a  like  character  was  the  feelino- 
toward  learning  and  toward  the  language  used  by  the  learned. 
The  popular  genius,  upon  discovering  that  it  also  had  the  power 
of  expression,  was  not  thereupon  emancipated  from  that 
superstitious  awe  in  the  presence  of  the  ancient  classical 
language  which  had  kept  it  silent  so  long.  The  Latin  was 
thought  to  have  a  magical  j^otency,  and  the  mastery  of  it  was 
an  occult  science.  It  was  not  the  only  tongue  in  which  con- 
verse was  held  with  evil  spirits,  but  it  was  one  of  those  which 
could  be  most  successfully  used   in  conjuring.     The   scholar 


24  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

was  feared  because  he  was  thought  to  have  a  dangerous  power, 
the  possession  of  which  was  a  temptation  to  malevolence.  This 
common  misapprehension  and  dread  of  learning  and  learned 
men  could  not  fail  to  produce  a  disposition  of  mind  favorable 
to  demonology  in  place  of  the  fine-spun  theories  of  Neckam, 
Gervase  and  Vincent  of  Beauvais. 

The  whole  complexion  of  the  tales  respecting  Virgil's  super- 
natural allie.-*  is  Teutonic.  The  first  writer  who  connected  the 
notion  of  evil  spirits  distinctly  with  Virgilian  magic  was  Jans 
Enenkel  of  Vienna,  who  completed  his  Weltbuch  about  1250. 
In  taking  up  the  tales  concerning  Virgil,  Enenkel  added  such 
particulars  as  to  show  that  the  German  race  had  already 
thought  out  two  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  that  strange 
symbol  of  human  thought  and  activity  which  was  afterward 
to  be  known  under  the  name  of  Doctor  Faustus.  The  devils 
are  bound  to  oblige  Virgil,  and  they  tempt  him  with  the 
promise  of  the  pleasures  which  they  can  procure  for  him.  Of 
the  supei*stition  concerning  the  assigning  of  one's  soul  to  the 
devil  in  consideration  of  a  fixed  term  of  years  to  be  lived  in 
the  enjoyment  of  uninterrupted  pleasure  and  power  and 
wealth,  Enenkel  seemed  to  have  no  knowledge.  His  devils 
are  found  by  accident  and  dismissed  almost  as  soon  as  they  are 
discovered.  In  the  rude  verse  of  this  chronicler,  Virgil  was 
represented  as  a  child  of  hell,  totally  devoid  of  moral  sense ; 
a  heathen  in  religion,  but  a  magician  of  great  power,  who 
attained  his  Avicked  learning  without  seeking  it.  One  day 
while  he  was  digging  in  a  vineyard,  he  came  upon  a  glass 
filled  with  what  he  supposed  to  be  worms.  When  he  picked  it 
up  he  heard  a  voice  saying : 

"Virgil,  let  us  out.     We  will  protect  you  forever  against  all 
harm.     Let  us  go  into  the  fields  and  we  will  teach  you  many 


AND  THE  DEVIL  25 

arts  which  Avill  give  you  joy  and  amusement  until  your  death. 
We  are  in  great  distress,  because  there  are  seventy-two  of  us 
corked  up  in  this  little  bottle." 

"Teach  me  the  art,"  said  Virgil,  "and  I  will  break  the 
bottle  and  set  you  free." 

So  they  taught  him  all  that  they  knew  themselves,  and  then 
Virgil  opened  the  bottle  and  the  devils  crawled  out  and 
disappeared.  All  the  wonders  that  Virgil  did  are  attributed 
to  his  bargain  with  the  seventy-two  devils  whom  he  released 
from  prison. 

The  author  of  the  Reinfrit  von  Braunschweig,  who  obtained 
most  of  his  inspiration  from  French  models,  nevertheless 
interjected  into  his  narrative  a  fragment  which  strangely 
mingled  the  notion  of  Virgil  as  a  prophet  with  the  later 
attribute  of  devilish  craft.  Upon  the  magnetberg — the 
Teutonic  counterpart  of  the  mountain  of  loadstone  in  the 
Ai-abian  tales — of  which  mention  is  frequent  in  mediaeval 
German  poetry,  there  lived  long  ago  a  Babylonian  prince,  who 
was  a  most  skillful  necromancer.  His  name,  Zabulon,  may 
easily  be  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  word  cUabolus.  He 
read  in  the  stars  that  twelve  hundred  years  after  his  own  death 
the  Saviour  would  appear  upon  the  earth,  and  would  destroy 
the  whole  race  of  magicians.  By  every  art  which  he  was 
master  of  he  endeavored  to  overcome  the  decree  of  destiny. 
When  the  period  of  twelve  hundred  years  was  nearing  its  end 
Virgil  was  born.  He  grew  up  to  be  a  man  of  so  kindly  a 
disposition  that  in  the  effort  to  benefit  others  he  impoverished 
himself  Having  heard  the  tradition  of  Zabulon  as  the  first 
and  greatest  necromancer  of  the  world,  he  resolved  to  seek 
the  treasures  stored  in  the  magnetberg.  He  knew  that 
Zabulon  was  the  inventor  of  astrology,  and  that  he  had  left 


26  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

mauy  books  contaming  the  secrets  of  his  art.  Virgil  found 
his  way  to  the  Babylonian  necromancer's  treasure  house,  and, 
with  the  aid  of  a  friendly  spirit  inclosed  in  the  ruby  of  a  ring, 
like  a  fly  in  amber,  he  obtained  not  only  a  vast  weight  of  gold 
and  silver,  but  also  the  magician's  books.  The  period  of 
twelve  hundred  yeai-s — a  remarkable  coincidence — ended  at 
the  very  moment  of  his  success.  Virgil  learned  from  the 
books  of  the  necromancer  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
beginning  of  a  new  dispensation  in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

Heinrich  von  Muglin,  who  lived  toward  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century,*  put  into  verse  a  tale  which  embodies  some 
of  the  features  made  familiar  by  the  narratives  that  have  just 
been  given.  But  it  also  epitomized  the  vague,  magical 
fancies  Avith  which  the  Germans  invested  what  they  learned  of 
the  enterprise  of  the  Venetians.  The  South  Germans,  from 
their  long  sojourn  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  cut  off 
almost  entirely  from  travel  or  traffic  liy  the  sea,  necessarily 
gathered  superstitious  notions  respecting  a  peojile  who  passed 
their  lives  on  the  salt  water.  None  save  those  Avho  have  lived 
to  manhood  far  away  from  the  ocean  can  imagine  tlie  oppres- 
sion which  the  imagination  is  under  at  the  first  view  of  that 
trackless,  mobile,  infinite,  rounded  surface  rising  before  the 
eye  to  the  vast  circle  of  the  horizon.  The  medineval  Germans 
felt  this  terror  and  mystery  of  the  sea.  Wonders,  they 
thought,  must  lie  beyond  the  treacherous,  ever-moving  flood. 
Those  who  dared  its  mystery  and  its  perils  must  have  more 

■'The  name  of  this  poet  should,  perhaps,  be  written  loii  2ruefjlinj. 
He  was  distinguislied  among  tlie  meistersingers.  There  is  some  agree- 
able information  respecting  him  in  !Mr.  II.  E.  Krehbiel's  i^ei-iVir  6/"//if 
New  York  Ihisical Season,  18S5-G,  p.  101.  See,  also,  Wagenseil,  JDe  Sacri 
Horn.  Imperii  Libera  Civitate  Noribergensi  Commentatio,  [Buck  von  der  3Ieis- 
*er singer/] 


AND  THE  DEVIL  27 

than  mortal  power,  and  a  greater  than  natural  purpose.  Their 
vessel  must  be  guided  by  supernatural  beings  and  they  them- 
selves must  be  in  league  with  demons.  A  favorite  device  in 
fiction  to  account  for  the  guidance  of  ships,  which  was  dwelt 
upon  long  after  the  use  of  the  mariner's  compass  became 
familiar,  was  to  describe  birds  gifted  with  supernatural  instinct 
whose  flight  instructed  the  pilot.  If  the  voyage  was  to  be 
prosperous,  these  birds  were  beautiful  and  of  good  omen  ;  if  it 
was  to  end  in  disaster,  the  fact  was  presaged  in  the  hatefulness  of 
the  winged  guides.  There  is  a  passage  in  that  curious  monu- 
ment to  the  exploring  .spirit  of  the  sixteenth  century,  The 
History  of  Polexander,  which  not  only  illustrates  this  pecul- 
iarity, but  also  brings  into  relief  by  contrast  the  belief  of  the 
mediaeval  Germans  in  the  mountain  of  magnetic  ore.  As  there 
was  an  island  Avhich  the  mariner  could  not  avoid  when  he  had 
entered  the  circle  of  its  influence,  so  there  was  another  island 
which  eluded  the  searcli  even  of  the  most  skillful  navigator. 
The  whole  of  that  ponderous  romance,  whose  title  has  just 
been  given,  turned  upon  the  bafiled  hopes  and  desires  of  the 
hero,  who  wandered  hither  and  thither  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
looking  for  the  Inaccessible  Island.  But  nothing  was  easier  to 
find  when  the  proper  guidance  had  been  obtained.  After 
many  vicissitudes,.  Polexander  and  his  faithful  servitor,  Diceus, 
were  taken  up  by  a  vessel  which  belonged  to  the  queen  of  the 
island  they  had  sought  so  long  in  vain.  Diceus  quickly  found 
the  key  to  the  puzzle  which  had  vexed  his  master  and  himself 
through  all  the  previous  years  of  wandering  and  danger. 
"Assoone  as  a  little  gale  from  the  shore  had  put  the  sacred 
vessell  out  of  the  Haven,  Diceus  (who  had  Lynx,  his  eyes,  in 
all  places  where  he  came  discovered  what  was  most  hidden), 
perceived  in  the  Pilot's  cabbin,  two  birds,  as  white  as  swans, 


28  MASTER   VIRGIL 

and  marking  (unnoted)  how  they  fed  them,  imagined  that 
'twas  by  that  sleight  Alcidiana's  Pilots  were  us'd  to  returne  to 
the  Inaccessible  Island.  Assoone,  therefore,  as  the  ship  was 
out  at  sea,  the  birds  flew  out  of  Linceus  his  cabbin  at  a 
window,  and  presently  appearing  over  the  ship,  were  saluted 
with  many  shouts  of  joy  by  the  Mariners  and  Pilgrims ;  those 
birds  flying  in  a  middle  height,  were  always  a  bow-shot  before 
the  ship  and  serving  Linceus  instead  of  Star  or  Compasse, 
showed  him  what  way  he  was  to  steer."  The  adventure  of 
Virgil,  as  related  by  von  Muglin,  was  far  from  being  as  for- 
tunate as  that  of  Polexander.  In  order  to  present  to  ourselves 
the  idea  which  the  German  versifier  had,  we  must  imagine  the 
picturesque  figure  of  a  ranting,  roaring  blade,  half  pirate, 
half  explorer,  one  of  many  who  swarmed  out  of  the  Adriatic 
in  all  directions,  and  braved  every  danger  for  the  sake  of 
gain.  Nothing  is  left  of  the  real  Virgil  except  the  name.  A 
mere  Italian  buccaneer,  he  gathered  about  him  a  company  of 
choice  spirits  like  himself,  who,  under  his  command,  set  sail 
from  Venice  to  seek  their  fortunes.  The  voyagers  took  leave 
of  their  wives  and  children  with  assurances  of  a  speedy  and 
prosperous  return.  But  before  their  ship  had  sailed  far  it  was 
overtaken  by  two  birds  of  ill-omen  called  grifen.  The  sense  of 
this  word  and  the  sound  of  it  lead  one  to  suspect  that  von 
Muglin  had  in  mind  something  which  he  had  heard  or  read 
concerning  the  griflfens  of  ancient  mythology.  The  birds  led 
them  westward  for  a  year  and  a  day.  Then  the  mariners 
became  aware  of  the  fact  that  they  were  approaching  the 
fatal  Agetstein,  another  name  for  the  magnetic  mountain. 
In  vain  they  prayed  to  the  Virgin  Mary  to  turn  their 
vessel  aside  from  the  dreaded  mountain.  The  demon 
birds    led    the    way    to    the    rocks    and    then    disappeared 


AND  THE  DEVIL  29 

with  hoarse  croakings  of  triumph.  The  sailors,  expecting 
nothing  but  a  speedy  death,  broke  out  into  loud  lamenta- 
tions. 

Wir  komen  nimer  mer  hin  heim  zu  wiben  und  zu  kinden, 
they  cried,  but  Virgil,  leaving  the  wreck,  mournfully  and 
laboriously  ascended  the  rugged  cliff.  The  summit  of  the 
mountain  was  a  level  plateau.  As  he  walked  about  there,  his 
eye  fell  upon  a  glass  bottle.  He  picked  this  up  and  found,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that  it  was  the  prison  of  a  devil.  In  his 
eagerness  to  be  released  from  his  narrow  cell,  the  spirit  prom- 
ised to  aid  Virgil  and  his  companions.  But  Virgil  was  not  to 
be  caught  by  a  mere  promise,  so  the  demon,  in  order  to  obtain 
Ms  freedom,  gave  exact  instructions  as  to  the  things  that 
Virgil  should  do,  if  he  desired  to  escape  with  his  crew  from 
the  peril  into  which  they  had  fallen.  He  explained  that  in  a 
certain  place  he  would  find  a  tomb  watched  by  a  figure  which 
smote  the  ground  continuously  so  that  no  mortal  could  approach 
the  place,  except  at  high  noon,  when  the  flailing  ceased  for  an 
instant.  In  that  instant  Virgil  was  told  that  he  might  seize  a 
letter  of  talismanic  virtue  which  the  figure  had.  He  succeeded 
in  doing  this,  and,  entering  the  tomb,  found  a  corpse,  and 
beneath  the  corpse  a  book,  which  the  bottle  imp  assured  him 
would  give  all  the  directions  necessary  for  his  safe  return  to 
Venice.  This  book,  however,  was  a  book  only  in  appearance. 
When  Virgil  turned  back  the  lid  to  see  what  sort  of  a  treatise 
had  fallen  into  his  possession,  great  was  his  astonishment  to  have 
eighty  thousand  devils  tumble  o  ut  of  the  ench  anted  casket.  They 
gathered  about  him  threateningly  and  demanded  immediate  em- 
ployment. Virgil  was  frightened  at  first  in  the  midst  of  this 
clamorous  army  of  supernatural  beings,  who  danced  and  leaped 
and  cut  fantastic  capers  in  their  desire  to  be  doing  something. 


30  MASTER   VIRGIL 

"What  do  we  here?"  they  cried ;  "we  may  no  longer  bide." 

Had  he  not  spoken,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  torn  him 
limb  from  limb,  according  to  the  well-known  custom  of  the 
goblins  when  they  are  evoked  by  an  inexperienced  or  cowardly 
mortal ;  but  Virgil,  recovering  from  his  alarm,  exclaimed  : 

"Into  the  greenwood,  all  of  you,  and  make  me  at  once  a 
good  road,  on  which  a  man  may  walk  or  ride  as  he  chooses." 

The  devils  began  this  task  with  alacrity.  Meanwhile,  Virgil 
descended  the  mountain  to  the  beach,  where  the  sailors  sat 
lamenting  over  the  wreck  which  strewed  the  jagged  rocks. 
He  offered  to  rescue  them  if  they  would  reward  him.  He 
declared  that  he  would  have  them  all  safe  at  home  in  the 
winking  of  an  eye.  They  replied  that  all  their  wealth  should 
be  his,  if  he  carried  out  this  promise.  In  a  moment  they  were 
all  at  home  in  Venice.  What  became  of  the  eighty  thousand 
and  one  devils,  whom  Virgil  had  evoked,  von  Muglin  does  not 
pretend  to  say.  Thus  at  a  stroke  the  great  Roman  was  deprived 
of  his  glory  as  a  poet  and  his  distinction  as  a  man  of  learning, 
and  was  reduced  to  the  level  of  a  mediteval  trader,  cunning  at 
a  bargain  and  fortunate,  even  in  his  accidental  intercourse  with 
the  devil.  Such  a  tendency  to  depreciate  Virgil  could  not  be 
reconciled  with  any  view  of  his  personality,  other  than  that 
taken  by  von  Muglin.  Shorn  of  all  dignity,  if  the  name 
of  the  poet  had  been  preserved  only  in  the  verses  of  these 
barbarous  story  tellers,  it  would  have  become  a  mere  by-word, 
with  which  to  frighten  children,  or  to  fill  out  the  nonsense 
rhythm  of  some  rustic  game.  Indeed,  in  modern  Poland  the 
only  relic  of  the  Virgilian  superstition  is  a  game  similar  to  the 
English  "Simon  says  thumbs  up,"  in  Avhich  the  players  repeat 
a  puerile  rhyme,  meaning,  it  is  said,  "Daddy  Virgil  said  to 
his  children,  'Children,  here,  do  as  I  do.'" 


AND   THE  DEVIL  31 

In  the  fifteenth  century  Felix  Hemmerlin  narrated  how  a 
devil  put  Virgil  in  possession  of  the  magical  book  of  Solomon, 
in  the  hope  of  being  liberated  from  a  bottle  in  which  he  was 
imprisoned.  Virgil,  upon  releasing  the  spirit,  was  amazed  at 
his  gigantic  proportions.  Convinced  that  it  would  not  be 
prudent  to  allow  such  a  creature  to  be  at  large,  he  cunningly- 
bantered  the  devil,  saying : 

"Surely  you  could  not  now  reduce  yourself  to  the  size  of 
that  bottle?" 

"Easily,"  replied  the  demon. 

Virgil  j^ersisted  in  his  feigned  disbelief,  until  finally  the  devil, 
to  prove  the  truth  of  his  words,  returned  into  the  flask. 
Virgil  instantly  clapped  the  stopper  back  in  its  place  and  left 
the  unfortunate  devil  in  prison  forever.  He  retained  the  book 
of  magic,  though,  and  thus  became  master  of  all  in  the 
black  art. 

This  tale,  which  resembles  so  closely  the  tale  of  the  fisherman 
and  the  jinn  in  The  Thousand  and  One  Nights,  and  the  frequent 
allusions  to  the  magnetic  mountain,  link  the  species  of  German 
folk-lore  utilized  in  the  tales  concerning  Virgil  with  the 
Arabian  tales.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  all  these  German 
tales  Avere  written  before  the  year  fourteen  hundred.  Mr. 
Edward  William  Lane,  in  the  notes  of  his  translation  of  The 
Arabian  Nights'-  Entertainments,  maintains  that  the  earliest 
possible  date  to  be  assigned  to  that  collection,  so  far  as  the 
Arabians  are  concerned  must  be  subsequent  to  the  beginning 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  weight  of  probability  is  on 
the  side  of  the  opinion  that  they  were  not  written  out  until 
about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  legend 
concerning  the  making  of  the  collection  indicates  also  that  the 
work  was  not  done  piecemeal,  but  that  a  translation  was  made 


32  31  AS  TEE   VIE  GIL 

in  the  period  between  the  two  dates  mentioned  of  tales  indig- 
enous to  Persia  or  India,  which  had  already  been  collected 
and  transcribed  by  men  of  letters  in  Persia.  It  is  extremely 
doubtful,  thei-efore,  if  the  Germans  could  have  owed  their 
knowledge  to  any  literary  forms  obtained  from  the  Saracens. 
They  are  more  likely  to  have  drawn  their  inspiration  from  the 
unwritten  tales  of  the  crusade  camps,  and  from  the  reminis- 
cences of  travelers  and  merchants  who  returned  out  of  the 
Farther  East.  The  indirect  testimony  of  von  Muglin's 
narrative  is  that  the  Germans  owed  much  in  this  way  to  the 
commerce  of  Venice.  That  Virgil  and  his  companions  should 
have  traveled  westward  to  find  the  Agetstein,  and  not  eastward, 
indicates  a  vague  recollection  of  antique  superstitions  respect- 
ing the  Atlantic  coast  of  Africa,  rather  than  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Saracen  Empire  to  the  eastward.  Besides  the  points 
of  similarity  alluded  to,  there  is  an  evident  relationship  between 
the  German  Zabulon,  the  inventor  of  magic  and  astrology, 
and  the  fallen  angels,  Haroot  and  Maroot  of  Arabian 
mythology,  who  were  supposed  to  have  incurred  the  eternal 
resentment  of  Allah,  by  teaching  these  forbidden  arts  to  men. 
A  curious  detail  respecting  Haroot  and  Maroot,  which  marks 
an  important  line  of  communication  with  the  Far  East,  open 
to  both  Europeans  and  Arabians,  is  that  the  first  Arabian 
visitor  to  the  cavern  where,  these  gigantic  offenders  were 
imprisoned,  was  conducted  thither  by  a  Jew. 


V 

In  the  later  times  when  the  craze  of  witchcraft  became  the 
terror  of  human  life  in  Europe,  not  only  the  Germans,  but 
most  of  the  other  nations  of  Europe  accepted  without  question 


AND  THE  DEVIL  33 

the  tales  of  Virgil's  league  with  devils.  At  the  final  outcome  of 
these  legends,  they  were  all  digested  into  a  connected  narrative, 
which  became,  like  the  story  of  Faust,  Avell  known  in  all  the 
languages  of  Western  Europe.  In  this  pseudo-biography  it 
was  related  that  when  Virgil  was  born  the  town  of  Rome 
quaked  and  trembled  in  dread  of  so  dire  an  advent.  Even  in 
his  childhood  he  was  subtle  and  crafty  and  wise  beyond  the 
measure  of  man.  He  was,  therefore,  sent  to  school  at  Toledo, 
the  abode  of  magical  learning  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  mediseval  period.  He  was  a  lonely  person,  and  loved 
nothing  better  on  a  holiday  than  to  ramble  by  himself  among 
the  hills,  out  of  the  sight  of  his  teachers  and  comrades. 
In  one  of  these  solitary  walks,  he  discovered  the  opening  of  a 
cavern.  Curious  to  know  what  there  was  in  the  mysterious 
and  darksome  place,  he  ventured  so  far  into  the  bowels  of  the 
mountain  thiit  the  light  of  day  was  lost  behind  him.  As  he 
went  on  he  imagined  that  he  saw  a  glimmer  of  light  from  the 
depths  of  the  pave.  He  pressed  toward  the  source  of  this 
fitful  ray,  and  as  he  went  he  heard  a  voice  crying : 

"Virgil,  Virgil!" 

Wondering  who  could  be  so  familiar  with  his  name  in  that 
uncanny  gloom,  he  peered  in  every  direction,  and  that  anxiously, 
but  could  see  nothing.  Finally,  he  asked  aloud  who  it  was 
that  called  him.  Again  his  name  was  repeated,  and  again  he 
answered.     Then  the  voice  came  with  the  words : 

"Do  you  not  see  the  board  that  lies  at  your  feet  with  a  name 
upon  it  ?" 

Virgil  replied  that  he  saw  it  dimly. 

"Lift  the  board  and  let  me  out,"  said  the  voice. 

"But  who  are  you?"  inquired  Virgil  with  caution. 


34  MASTER   VIRGIL 

"Iain  a  devil,"  was  the  reply.  "I  was  conjured  out  of  a 
man  whom  I  had  possessed,  and  have  been  banished  to  this 
cell  until  the  Day  of  Judgment,  unless  t  can  in  the  meantime 
persuade  a  mortal  to  release  me.  I  pray  you  deliver  me  out 
of  this  painful  prison.  I  will  show  you  many  books  of  magic 
[nygromancy,  nigromance]  so  that  you  shall  come  easily  into 
a  perfect  knowledge  of  that  science,  and  I  will  show  you  how 
you  may  obtain  whatever  you  desire." 

Virgil  was  tempted  by  these  promises.  He  bade  the  demon 
tell  him  where  the  books  were  kept.  In  his  anxiety  to  be 
released,  the  fiend  showed  less  acuteness  than  is  usually  credited 
to  his  race.  He  gave  Virgil  such  directions  that  the  wonderful 
library  was  soon  in  the  student's  possession.  Virgil  kept  faith, 
however,  by  taking  away  the  board  which  covered  the  prison  of 
the  spirit.  The  latter  wriggled  out  of  his  narrow  quarters  in  the 
shape  of  an  eel,  and  then  rose  up  by  the  side  of  Virgil  in  the 
shape  of  a  man,  l)ut  so  gigantic  that  the  youth  was  frightened. 
By  a  device  similar  to  that  described  in  the  narrative  of  Felix 
Hemmerlin,  he  prevailed  on  his  dangerous  companion  to 
return  into  his  prison,  where,  as  the  veracious  chronicler 
remarked,  the  devil  remains  to  this  day. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  although  diabolism  grew  to  the 
proportions  in  the  Virgilian  legends  which  have  been  indicated 
in  the  foregoing  pages,  it  figured  in  the  work  of  one  Italian 
writer  only  who  professed  to  relate  the  magical  deeds  of 
Virgil.  In  the  Aliprandina,  a  versified  chronicle  of  IMantua, 
written  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  it  is  stated  that  Virgil, 
who  was  reputed  to  be  a  magician,  was  imprisoned  by  Octa\4an. 
He  released  himself  and  journeyed  in  a  ship  created  by  en- 
chantment to  Naples.  On  the  way  he  became  hungry  and 
Bent  one  of  the  fiimiliar  spirits  who  served  him  back  to  Rome 


AND   THE  DEVIL  35 

to  steal  the  victuals  from  Octavian's  table.  With  this  indirect 
and  apparently  casual  reference  to  the  devil  of  Virgil,  Italian 
popular  literature  was  satisfied,  as,  indeed,  it  might  well  be, 
since  it  retained  a  clear  memory  of  the  real  achievements  of 
the  Augustan  poet. 


VI 


Within  the  limitations  of  that  early  popular  literature,  from 
which  the  nai-ratives  here  repeated  have  been  taken,  the  devil, 
as  portrayed,  is  the  exact  fac-simile  of  the  common  Teutonic 
ideal  of  the  period  to  which  the  literature  belongs.  Virgil's 
devils,  like  the  other  evil  spirits  in  German  mythology,  were 
manifest  types  of  the  forces  of  nature.  Their  existence  fur- 
nished an  adequate  cause  for  every  relic  of  the  Roman  power 
that  remained.  In  sober  fact,  the  road  which  von  Muglin 
described  was  the  counterpart  of  a  Roman  highway.  But  the 
j)opular  notions  concerning  the  devil  had  not  yet  been  rounded 
out  and  completed.  In  the  times  when  the  legends  about 
Virgil  were  written,  diabolism  was  so  crude  that  the  story 
tellers  had  no  suitable  device  for  getting  rid  of  evil  spirits  at 
the  conclusion  of  a  tale.  In  the  narratives  that  have  been 
discussed  in  these  pages,  the  clumsy  versifiers  simply  ignored 
this  problem,  manifestly  an  important  one  from  an  artistic 
point  of  view.  Enenkel's  devils  ran  away,  and  so  did  the 
multitude  which  von  Muglin  let  loose  upon  a  suffering  world. 
At  least  these  writers  leave  the  matter  entirely  to  inference. 
Hemmerlin,  indeed,  succeeded  in  rebottling  his  spirit,  but  the 
ludicrous  weakness  of  his  invention  can  easily  be  seen  by  one 
who  tries  to  imagine  how  the  ruse  would  work  with  that  suave, 
polished,  agreeable,  sharp-witted,  immoral  gentleman  in  black, 


36  MASTER    VIRGIL 

the  popular  devil  of  modern  times.  Virgil  never  could  have 
hoodwinked  him.  Mephisto  could  put  himself  in  a  bottle,  if 
he  chose,  but  he  never  could  be  caught  under  the  seal  of 
Solomon.  But  crude  as  these  early  tales  were,  they  showed  a 
steady  growth  from  first  to  last  in  the  diabolical  ideal.  The 
vague  suspicion  of  demoniac  influence  conveyed  by  the  learned 
phrases  of  Conrad  of  Querfurt  was  articulated  by  Enenkel  in 
the  puerile  fancy  that  the  devils  of  Virgil  looked  like  a 
wriggling  mass  of  earth  worms.  In  the  hands  of  von  Muglin, 
a  century  later,  these  became  the  mischievous  little  beings  of 
the  greenwood  familiar  to  German  folk-lore.  At  last  Felix 
Hemmerlin  gives  the  devil  of  Virgil  the  dignity  of  gigantic 
size.  There  was  a  corresponding  growth  in  the  apparent 
malignity  5f  the  devil  and  of  his  power  to  do  harm  to  mortals. 
What  was  merely  curious  to  Enenkel  became  frightful  to 
Hemmerlin  and  the  redactors  of  the  Virgilian  pseudo- 
biography.  But,  after  all,  the  devils  of  Virgil  were  a  simple- 
minded,  down-trodden,  unfortunate,  servile  race.  They  were 
always  in  prison,  waiting  for  some  mortal  to  release  them,  and 
they  were  always  overreached  by  the  lucky  man  who  found 
them.  Without  attempting  to  record  all  the  steps  that  were 
taken  in  the  development  of  magical  diabolism  in  the  period 
between  the  opening  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  outcome  may  be  seen  in  the  English 
History  of  the  Damnable  Life  and  Deserved  Death  of  Dr.  John 
Faustus,  translated  from  the  German  Faust-sage  about  the  year 
1589.  The  conception  of  the  evil  spirit  had  grown  immeas- 
urably in  less  than  two  centuries,  and  the  terror  and  abhorrence 
of  mankind  had  risen  in  proportion.  The  devil  was  no  longer 
to  be  accidentally  found  cooped  up  in  bottles  or  hidden  in  some 
cavern.     He  must  be  worshiped  with  a  cult  as  elaborate  as 


AND   THE  DEVIL  37 

that  with  which  the  Divine  Being  was  honored.  Even  to 
those  who  paid  him  such  homage  as  he  desired,  he  did  not 
present  himself  in  person,  but  sent  his  messengers.  Faust, 
having  made  himself  expert  in  the  vocabula,  figures,  charac- 
ters, conjurations  and  other  ceremonials  indispensable  to  the 
art  of  necromancy,  was  eager  to  test  his  powers  in  an  effort  to 
bring  the  devil  before  him.  He  went  one  night  into  a  thick 
wood  near  Wittenberg,  and  at  a  place  where  the  intersection 
of  two  paths  made  the  sign  of  a  cross  he  described  with  his 
wand  a  circle  in  the  dust,  and  within  that  drew  many  other 
circles  and  characters.  Then  he  called  on  Mephistopheles  in 
the  name  of  Beelzebub,  the  Prince  of  Hell,  to  appear  in  his 
own  proper  form.  A  frightful  thunderstorm  followed,  and 
then,  when  Faust  was  about  to  leave  his  circle  in  a  fright,  such 
pleasant  music  was  heard  that  he  could  not  but  tarry.  He 
renewed  his  conjurations,  and  there  appeared  before  him  suc- 
cessively a  horrible  dragon,  a  flame  that  seemed  to  dart  down 
at  him  from  heaven,  and  finally  a  fiery  globe.  The  globe 
bursting  asunder,  disclosed  the  figure  of  a  man,  shaped  out  of 
fire.  This  figure  whirled  about  Faust's  circle  many  times, 
and  at  last,  assuming  the  habit  and  appearance  of  a  gray  friar, 
showed  himself  to  be  the  one  whom  Faust  desired  to  see.  This 
being  of  fire  could  take  instantly  whatever  shape  he  chose,  he 
argued  with  all  the  subtlety  of  one  trained  in  scholasticism ; 
he  gave  no  favors  for  which  he  did  not  get  manifold  repayment, 
and  he  yielded  service  to  no  mortal,  except  when  he  saw  a 
malicious  end  to  be  gained.  The  magician's  spells  did  not 
compel  him  to  act ;  they  only  displayed  the  temper  and  eager- 
ness, the  desires  and  intentions  of  the  worshiper.  When  this 
overshadowing  notion  of  the  devil  is  viewed  in  its  relation  to 
the  times,  it  is  not  difficult  to  realize  the  fervor  with  which 


99764 


38  MASTER   VIRGIL 

men  persecuted  those  accused  of  witchcraft.  Were  a  single 
line  of  instances  sufficient  for  a  generalization,  it  would  be  fair 
to  conclude  that  in  the  fear  of  the  devil  the  age  that  witnessed 
the  reformation  and  renaissance  was  darker  far  than  the  pre- 
ceding centuries.  Diabolism  never  flourished  in  the  civilized 
world  at  any  other  epoch  as  it  did  in  that  epoch.  Men's 
minds  were  weighed  down  by  the  terrors  of  the  magical  spirit 
of  evil.  This  can  be  said  without  any  theological  bias.  The 
devil  of  the  magicians,  the  devil  with  horns  and  hoofs,  the 
serpent  devil,  the  devil  at  whom  Luther  threw  his  inkstand, 
was  not  the  devil  of  theological  dogma,  nor  the  devil  of  the 
Scriptures.  He  was  the  creature  of  a  fervid  imagination,  who 
had  become  a  real  existence  to  millions  of  human  beings.  He 
belonged  to  an  age  rnost  credulous  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  supernatural.  Whatever  weight  may  be  attached  to  the 
Virgilian  tales  adds  so  much  strength  to  the  opinion  that  the 
world,  in  this  matter  of  demonism,  went  steadily  backward 
from  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  century.  Later  it  became 
possible  to  disperse  the  clouds  of  mysticism  that  hung  about 
the  devil,  divest  him  of  his  magical  cloak  and  restrain  him  to 
the  limits  of  Scriptural  definition. 


THIRD— l.Y  LITERARY   TRADITION 


I 


In  his  unconscious  power  of  exciting  veneration,  Virgil 
stands  almost  alone  among  the  Roman  poets.  His  works  were 
the  natural  outcome  of  his  character,  but  in  them  the  Romans 
found  all  that  was  best  of  their  national  legends,  religion  and 
literature.  It  is  a  common  opinion  in  respect  to  the  Homeric 
poems  that  they  are  the  residuum,  so  to  speak,  of  a  literature 
earlier  than  the  art  of  writing.  The  fragments  of  the  Greek 
bards  have  been  united  by  some  transcendent  genius  into  one 
exalted  epos.  Virgil's  national  work  consists  likewise  of  frag- 
ments gathered  iu  the  patient  study  of  earliei-  Greek  and 
Roman  writers.  It  is  a  mosaic  of  precious  gems  and  exquisite 
colors,  joined  by  the  hand  of  a  master  artist  so  skillfully  that 
it  is  doubtful  if  the  most  acute  critic,  by  mere  inspection, 
could  distinguish  what  is  Virgil's  own  from  what  he  has  ap- 
propriated. While  observing  how  the  object  had  been  attained, 
the  Romans  felt  that  in  the  ^neid  they  possessed  the  most 
complete  interpretation  of  their  national  life  they  could  ever 
expect  to  see. 

The  literary  class  iu  Rome  were  well  aware  of  the  distinction 
between  the  creative  power  evinced  in  Homer  and  the  skill 


40  MASTER   VIBGJL 

which  could  produce  a  successful  imitation.  But  they  gloried 
in  the  fact  that  of  all  imitations,  whether  Greek  or  Latin,  the 
one  which  alone  rivaled  the  perfection  of  the  model  was  the 
one  most  intimately  associated  with  their  national  renown.  In 
an  important  and  special  sense,  the  JEneid  had  all  the  value 
and  power  of  an  original  creation,  and  that  was  in  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  times  and  to  the  character  of  the  people  whom 
indirectly  it  celebrated.  The  Romans  had  no  recollection  of 
an  epoch  when  the  elements  of  their  national  character  had 
yet  to  be  united.  The  definite  past  which  they  looked  back 
upon  gave  them  a  prophetic  anticipation  of  the  destiny  they 
were  to  fulfill.  The  natural  outcome  of  this  feeling  of  historic 
unity  was  an  enthusiasm  that  formed,  to  a  large  extent,  the 
motive  of  all  Roman  literature,  and  occasioned  the  production 
of  those  epics,  the  long  catalogue  of  which  is  a  notable  phe- 
nomenon in  the  annals  of  Latin  book-making.  With  most 
of  these  poets,  the  patriotism,  though  hearty  enough,  was 
rudely  expressed ;  but  in  the  case  of  Virgil,  the  leader  of  a 
new  school  of  letters,  the  pride  in  his  country  was  shown  to 
be  capable  of  the  most  harmonious  and  polished  expression. 
He  aimed  to  make  a  poem,  carefully  finished,  even  to  the 
slightest  details,  but  possessed  of  all  the  elements  conducive  to 
universal  popularity.  It  Avas  fortunate,  perhaps,  for  his  fame, 
that  death  prevented  his  making  the  changes  in  his  manuscript 
which  he  proposed ;  he  had  already  displayed  a  growing  tend- 
ency to  an  overrefinement  that-  might  have  marred  the 
apparent  spontaneity  of  his  poem.  As  it  was,  the  impression 
produced  by  the  merely  extraneous  and  mechanical  character- 
istics of  the  work  was  profound.  As  a  model  of  form  it  was 
admired  from  the  moment  it  first  saw  the  light,  and  this 
admiration  was  not  diminished,  even  in  the  darkest  part  of  the 


jy  LITERARY  TRADITION  41 

middle  ages,  nor  umid  the  copious  productiveness  of  modern 
times. 

The  respect  accorded  Virgil  by  his  literary  contemporaries 
was  exaggerated  by  later  poets  into  a  religious  ceremonial. 
Petronius,  with  fine  discrimination,  characterized  Virgil  as 
TJie  Roman,  thus  contrasting  the  native  hue  of  his  genius  with 
that  of  all  other  poets,  including  his  own  countrymen.  But 
others  were  less  moderate.  Propertius  called  the  JEneid  a 
greater  poem  than  the  Iliad,  and  later  Martial  extravagantly 
remarked  that  Maro,  if  he  had  chosen,  might  have  surpassed 
the  lyrics  of  Horace,  the  odes  of  Pindar  and  the  tragedies  of 
Varius.  The  wealthy  virtuoso,  Silius  Italicus,  who  said  of 
Virgil's  provincial  city : 

Mantua,  musarum  domus,  atque  ad  sidera  cantu 
Evecta  Aonio,  et  Smyrnaeis  semula  plectris, 

was  far  moTe  diligent  in  celebrating  Virgil's  birthday  than  his 
own.  He  set  the  fashion  of  pilgrimages  to  the  tomb  of  the 
poet,  and  of  offering  sacrifices  there,  just  as  he  would  have 
done  in  the  temple  of  the  gods.  Statins  alluded  to  Virgil's 
tomb  as  a  temple.  Martial  declared  that,  as  Diana  had  ren- 
dered sacred  the  Ides  of  May,  and  Mercury  those  of  August, 
so  Maro  consecrated  the  Ides  of  October.  It  Avas  the  example 
of  these  poets  which  led  Papinius  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of 
Lucan.  In  thus  offering  divine  honors  to  the  memory  of 
Virgil,  these  poets  opened  the  way  for  those  miraculous  stories 
that  began  soon  to  be  related. 

The  sharp  criticism  to  which  Virgil's  works  were  subjected 
tended,  rather  than  otherwise,  to  intensify  the  affection  of  his 
votaries  for  him ;  while  the  rapid  decline  of  the  Latin  language 
in  spirit  and  power,  which  made  it  an  impossible  task  even  to 
imitate  him,  caused  him  to  be  revered  as  a  superhuman  master 


42  MASTER   VIRGIL 

of  expression.  Fashion  joined  hands  with  learning  to  exalt 
the  poet's  subject  and  style.  The  learned  lady  spoken  of  by 
Juvenal,  as  discoursing  to  a  circle  of  educated  peojile  upon 
the  merits  of  Virgil,  exemplified  a  common  practice  of  the 
times.  Virgil's  verses  were  declaimed  at  the  theatres,  recited 
at  banquets,  written  on  the  walls  of  houses  and  inscribed  on 
the  utensils  of  the  table.  His  poems,  elegantly  copied  on 
vellum,  constituted  the  most  acceptable  token  of  friendship 
that  a  refined  taste  could  suggest.  The  teachers  of  grammar 
hastened  to  take  them  up  as  the  most  suitable  literature  that 
could  be  found  for  the  instruction  of  the  Roman  youth. 
During  the  first  century  of  the  Empire  and  part  of  the  second, 
the  grammarians  dominated  the  whole  field  of  letters,  and 
from  their  ranks  rose  specialists  who  composed  elaborate  and 
important  works  upon  all  the  new  poets,  but  particularly  upon 
Virgil.  _  These  were  modeled  upon  the  grammatical  treatises 
common  in  the  Greek  language ;  l)ut  while  the  same  method 
of  illustration  could  be  used  with  Virgil  that  had  been 
invented  for  Homer,  as  an  authority  on  points  of  usage  he  was 
viewed  in  a  light  altogether  new.  Although  Homer's  language 
was  studied  by  the  Alexandrian  scholars,  his  verbal  forms 
never  could  be  endued  with  anything  more  than  historic  inter- 
est. His  poems  were  imitated  in  some  highly  artificial,  and 
purely  academical  productions ;  but  they  could  never  be  made 
to  serve  as  the  basis  of  a  grammatical  system  to  be  adopted  by 
writers  in  general.  Virgil,  on  the  other  hand,  the  exponent 
of  the  highest  development  reached  by  Latin  literature,  was 
properly  the  ultimate  standaixl  of  appeal  upon  every  point  of 
grammar.  Thus,  from  the  beginning  there  was  anxiety — not 
always  tempered  with  judgment — as  to  the  correct  reading  of 
doubtful  passages.     Critics  employed  their  time,  not  only  in 


jy  LITER ABY  TRADITION  43 

emending  the  text  according  to  individual  conjecture,  but  also 
with  the  guidance  of  authoritative  manuscripts,  handed  down 
in  his  household,  and  even  his  own  autographic  copies,  men- 
tioned as  still  extant  in  the  times  of  Pliny,  Quintilian  and 
Aulus  Gellius.  Scholars  disputed  upon  passages  of  Virgil 
when  they  visited  each  other,  when  they  met  in  the  book- 
sellers's  shops,  and  when  they  were  traveling  together.  They 
discussed  the  meaning  and  propriety  of  the  words  he  used, 
the  mythological,  geographical  or  historical  matters  to  Avhich 
he  alluded;  made  observations  and  strictures  on  his  style, 
censured  particular  passages,  and  compared  the  verses  imitated 
from  the  older  Latin  writers  or  from  the  Greek  with 
the  originals.  Such  were  the  subjects  treated  by  Iginus, 
Probus,  Aristarchus,  Annseus  Cornutus,  by  Gellius  and  his 
friends.  Others,  like  Asper,  made  commentaries  designed  to 
accompany  the  works  of  the  poet. 

II 

The  rhetoricians  who  rose  to  precedence  in  literature  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  were  slow  to  acknowledge 
the  merit  of  Virgil.  Fronto,  the  great  apostle  of  pedantic 
oratory,  slighted  the  author  of  the  ^Eneid  for  the  earlier  and 
ruder  poets.  Apuleius,  though  in  some  of  his  works  he 
quoted  freely  from  Virgil,  doubtless  preferred  the  more  archaic 
writers.  So  the  whimsical  Caligula  condemned  the  works  of 
Virgil  as  devoid  of  genius  and  unprofitable  in  their  teaching. 
The  upheaval  of  uncultured  or  barbarian  modes  of  thought 
and  life,  which  distorted  where  it  did  not  destroy  the  literary 
traditions,  had  its  effect  upon  the  reputation  of  Virgil.  The 
native  religion  had  been  corrupted  with  the  monstrous  sym- 
bolism of  the  East.     Men  of  learning  degraded   the  objects 


44  MASTER   VIRGIL 

which  they  treated  by  mingling  in  their  discourses  the  slang 
of  the  streets  with  obsolete  phrases,  foreign  idioms  and  words 
newly  coined   from   their   own   brains.     In   that  melancholy 
period  all  legitimate  science  fell  into  decay,  and  the  place  of 
knowledge  was  occupied  by  a  congeries  of  puerile  and  debasing 
superstitions.     The  imaginations  of  men  were  affected  by  the 
false  pretences  of  magic,  by  the  alleged  miracles  of  licentious 
enthusiasts,  by  supposititious  prophecies,  by  sibylline  forgeries, 
by  Milesian  novels  and  specious  schemes  of  fortune  telling. 
To  the  admirers  of  Apuleius,  who  wrote  and  spoke  a  language 
complicated  by  various  foreign  influences,  Virgil  must  have 
seemed  nerveless,  colorless,  tame  and  insipid.     His  greatness 
with  them  must  have  been  solely  a  matter  of  tradition.     It 
was  impossible  for  an  age  which  applauded  the  declamatory 
verse  of  Statins  justly  to  appreciate  Virgil.     The  fame  of  the 
poet  had  acquired,  however,  too  much  authority  by  the  efforts 
of  the  grammarians,  and  by  the  continual  use  of  his  works  in 
the  schools  of  instruction,  to  be  displaced  by  this  reactionary 
movement.     In  the  prevalent  condition  of  literary  taste,  ven- 
eration that  could  not  be  shaken  off  must  degenerate  into  a 
superstitious  regard.     Thus   arose   under   the  Antonines   the 
custom  of  using  the  JEneid  as   a  means  of  fortune  telling; 
opening  the  leaves  as  chance  dictated  and  interpreting  as  lucky 
or  unlucky  the  first  passage  that  caught  the  eye.     This  was 
the   Sors    Virgiliana   of   Hadrian,  which    was    used    also    by 
other  Emperors,  as  in  the  cases  of  Claudius  Albinus,  Alexander 
Severus  and  the  two  Goi'diani.     Puerile  as  the  fashion  was,  it 
showed  the  degree  of  reverence  felt  for  Virgil's  works.     They 
were  now  looked  upon  as  the  inspired  writings  of  the  race. 
Therefore,    Alexander   Severus,  at   a   time  when' Platonism, 
although  corrupted,  constituted  the  religion  of  culture,  only 


jy  LITERARY  TRADITION  45 

expressed  the  common  sentiment  in  saying  that  Virgil  was  the 
Plato  of  poets ;  and  performed  an  act  universally  sanctioned 
in  placing  the  statue  of  Virgil  beside  that  of  Achilles.  But 
the  line  of  proper  literary  tradition  was  broken,  and  in  the 
excessive  veneration  for  Virgil's  name  an  element  was  already 
to  be  found  to  which  the  term  legendary  might  be  applied. 


ni 


The  movement  away  from  the  Virgil  of  history  and  of  the 
earlier  tradition  became  still  more  obvious  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  In  some  respects  this  period,  in  its  relation  to 
Virgil,  may  be  compared  to  the  era  of  Shakespearean  revival, 
which  began  among  English  scholars  near  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  has  continued  down  to  the  present 
day.  As  great  enthusiasm  was  manifested  then  as  Ave  are 
cognizant  of  among  the  zealous  worshipers  of  Shakespeare. 
The  forced  interpretation  of  Virgil's  meaning  could  be  dis- 
counted with  many  modern  essays  on  the  play  of  Hamlet  or 
on  The  Sonnets.  The  same  is  true,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
in  the  case  of  the  author  of  Faust.  In  the  extravagance  of 
its  admiration,  in  its  tendency  to  discover  hidden  meanings 
and  in  the  fondness  which  it  displays  for  allegory,  the  body 
of  literature  which  is  growing  around  the  Avorks  of  Goethe  is 
strangely  like  the  dead  and  forgotten  literature  under  which 
Virgil's  genius  came  near  being  buried.  The  estimate  of  all 
these  writers  is  one  not  measured  by  reality  nor  restrained  to 
the  limits  of  human  endeavor.  They  stand  to  their  respective 
votaries  in  an  attitude  of  semi-deification.  Given  a  perio<l  in 
the  future  similar  to  the  mediseval  period,  and  both  the  English 


46  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

and  the  German  poets  will  be  the  victims  of  a  legendary  tend- 
ency as  preposterous  as  the  one  from  which  the  fame  of  Virgil 
suffered. 

If  we  would  reproduce  the  conception  of  Virgil  which  the 
fifth  century  transmitted  to  its  successors,  we  must  picture  to 
ourselves  not  the  wealthy,  exclusive  literary  courtier  of  the 
Augustan  age,  but  the  cloaked,  affected,  disputatious,  dogmatic 
ascetic  Avhom  the  Neo-Platonists  dignified  with  the  title  of 
philosopher,  a  brusque,  ill-mannered  mystagogue.  In  this 
guise  his  character  as  the  transcendent  poet  of  the  Latin 
world  was  almost  forgotten.  His  writings  became  less  and  less 
familiar,  and  the  occasional  mention  of  his  name  by  authors  of 
reputed  learning  was  in  such  a  relation  as  indicated  a  total 
want  of  true  sympathy.  AVhile  the  custom  was  still  in  vogue 
during  a  portion  of  the  sixth  century  of  reciting  his  verses  in 
the  popular  gatherings  for  amusement,  it  was  a  custom  which 
was  retained  in  the  face  of  the  growing  disajiproval  of  the 
church  writers.  To  obtain  a  summary  view  of  the  fluctuation 
in  the  feeling  of  admiration  for  Virgil,  no  better  plan,  per- 
haps, could  be  suggested  than  that  of  appealing  to  the  writers 
of  Latin  verse,  who  were  numerous,  even  in  those  centuries 
when  literary  work  was  most  despised.  We  should  expect  to 
find  among  them  a  knowledge  of  the  classical  poets  superior 
to  that  of  their  contemporaries,  for  the  reason  that  the  natural 
desire  to  perfect  themselves  in  metrical  composition  might  weU 
incite  them  to  the  search  for  good  models.  That  was,  indeed, 
an  uncritical  period  when  he,  who  in  the  seventh  century 
praised  Bishop  Isidore's  library,  felt  called  upon  to  inform  his 
readers  that  if  they  were  annoyed  by  the  perusal  of  Virgil, 
Horace,  Ovid,  Persius,  Lucan  or  Papinius  they  might  turn  for 
relief  to  Prudentius,  Avitus,  Juvencus  and  Sedulius.     There 


IN  LJ  TER  ARY  TRAD  I TI 0  N  47 

was  a  tinge  of  religious  prejudice  in  the  suggestion  that  while 
these  poets,  so  deeply  read  in  evangelical  learning,  remained, 
no  necessity  existed  for  the  study  of  Pagan  literature.  Even 
in  those  days  England  was  more  liberal  than  Spain.  The 
Venerable  Bede,  in  the  eighth  century,  devoted  much  attention 
to  Virgil.  While  he  deprecated  the  subject  of  the  ^neid,  he 
showed  some  perception  of  its  merit  as  a  work  of  art,  as,  for 
example,  in  his  poem   on  Virginity  : 

Let  Maro  wars  in  loftier  numbers  sing. 

I  sound  the  praises  of  our  Heavenly  King; 

His  thought  being,  "I  have  a  higher  theme;  would  that  I 
could  treat  it  w^ith  equal  power."  In  the  ninth  century 
Alcuin,  who  had  obtained  from  the  teachings  of  Bede  a  strong 
love  of  learning  for  its  own  sake,  endeavoring  to  persuade  his 
friend  Charlemagne  to  send  scholars  to  York  for  the  purpose  of 
copying  the  books  in  the  library  gathered  there,  arranged  his 
list  in  hexametres.  It  is  notable  that  he  named  the  popular 
Christian  j)oets  like  Juvencus  and  Arator  before  the  classic 
poets,  and  of  the  latter  he  mentioned  only  three — -Virgil, 
Statins  and  Lucan.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  he  attempted  to 
classify  the  historians  and  grammarians,  we  may  infer  that  if 
the  enumerat')r  had  prized  these  three  poets  above  the  eccle- 
siastical verse  makers,  he  would  have  placed  their  names  first. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  it  was  the  Court  of  Charlemagne 
"which  sought  to  ape  the  manners  and  even  the  titles  of  the 
Augustan  age,  this  unconscious  violation  of  the  order  of 
merit  becomes  all  the  more  striking. 

With  the  eleventh  century  came  a  manifest  improvement  in 
the  idea  of  Virgil  formed  by  the  Latin  poets.  Henry  the 
Poor,  an  eccentric  Florentine,  Avhose  leisure,  while  embittered 
by  poverty,  was  not  devoid  of  elegance,  wrote  a  long  poem 


48  MAS  TEE    V  IB  GIL 

upon  the  Diverse  Freaks  of  Fortune  and  the  Consolation  of 
Philosophy,  a  theme  probably  taken  from  the  perusal  of 
Boethius.  Alluding  to  his  own  melancholy  estate,  he  said 
his  fortune  would  have  been  no  better  though  he  had  been 
praised  in  the  verses  of  Virgil,  Ovid  or  Lucan.  The  fates, 
he  graphically  remarked,  Neronized  over  him  and  his  stars 
were  adverse.  But  his  critical  perception  of  the  difference 
between  the  genius  of  Virgil  and  that  of  Lucan  is  accurately 
and  finely  described  in  the  words  musa,  applied  to  the  former, 
and  tuba  to  the  latter.  The  passage  gives  unmistakable  tokens 
that  the  light  of  the  renaissance  was  even  then  brightening  in 
Italy.  Not  less  remarkable  were  the  lines  of  Alanus  Magnus, 
written  near  the  close  of  the  centur}',  in  which  the  writer 
dignified  the  ecclesiastical  poet  Sidonius  with  the  individual 
merits  of  all  the  ancient  poets  collected  together.  The 
very  exaggeration  of  the  eulogy  served  to  show  what  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  Northern  Europe  in  learning  thought 
of  the  classic  writers.  After  comparing  his  subject  indiscrim- 
inately with  the  orators  and  philosophers  of  both  Greece  and 
Eome,  he  added  that  Sidonius  had  the  fluency  and  smoothness 
of  Ovid,  the  vividness  of  Lucan  and  the  depth  of  Virgil, 
alluding  in  the  word  abyssnm  doubtless  to  the  then  popular 
allegorical  intepretations  of  the  ^neid.  These  quotations 
are  indicative  of  the  neglect  into  which  the  works  of  Virgil 
fell  during  that  dull  period  when  the  decay  of  the  Latin  left 
Europe  without  a  suitable  instrument  of  literary  expression. 
It  is  necessary  to  add  but  one  more  selection  for  the  sake  of 
emphasizing  the  statement  that  in  the  twelfth  century  classical 
study  began  to  be,  if  not  more  thorough  and  critical,  at  least 
somewhat  more  popular  and  widespread.  In  the  early  part 
of  this  century  Evrard  of  Bethune,  a  rhetorical  teacher  of 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  49 

note,  composed  a  poem,  professedly  in  the  nature  of  a  text 
book  on  his  favorite  art,  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  TJie 
Labyrinth.  Under  the  head  of  versification,  he  discussed  the 
poets  read  in  the  schools,  and  with  many  mediaeval  writers, 
whose  names  are  now  no  longer  remembered,  included  also  the 
most  celebrated  Romans,  among  the  rest  Virgil.  That  he 
wrote  for  the  pupils,  and  not  for  men  of  approved  learning,  is 
clear  from  the  elementary  character  of  the  information  he 
thought  it  necessary  to  give.  Only  the  following  couplet  is  of 
interest  here : 

Virgilio  servit  triplex  stylus.     Haec  tria  thema 
Prcebent,  bos,  et  ager,  historialis  apex, 

and  this  might  have  suggested  the  lines  of  the  old  English 
poet  Barclay  in  his  eclogues,  where  Virgil's  poetry  is  thus 
described : 

He  sange  of  fieldes  and  tilling  of  grounde, 

Of  sheepe  and  oxen  and  battayle  did  he  sounde. 


IV 


It  was  the  most  grateful  form  that  flattery  could  take  for 
persons  in  authority  to  be  credited  with  deeds  which  even 
Virgil,  were  he  alive,  could  not  adequately  celebrate  in  verse, 
nor  could  there  be  higher  refinement  of  praise  for  the  versifiers 
of  the  mediaeval  centuries  than  to  speak  of  them  as  the  rivals 
of  Virgil.  Such  exaggerated  compliments  were  repeated  over 
their  graves.  In  this  manner  the  fame  of  the  poet  retained  its 
lustre.  Theologians  imitated  Jerome  in  maintaining  the  im- 
mortality of  the  ^neid,  and  readily  accepted  his  remai-k  that 
Virgil  was  the  Homer  of  the  Latins;    literary  men  studied 


50  MASTER    VIBOIL 

and  praised  his  works,  and  the  dry  chroniclers  who  usually 
concerned  themselves  only  with  the  doings  of  kings,  emperors 
and  persons  of  rank,  were  fain  to  make  some  record  of  Virgil. 
They  noted  with  care  the  date  of  his  birth  and  death,  and 
spoke  of  the  ^Eneid  as  a  poem  which  must  have  owed  its 
supernatural  perfection  to  the  skill  of  a  magician.  The 
misguided  zeal  of  theological  polemics  favored  rather  than 
retarded  the  growth  of  the  Virgilian  cult,  if  it  may  be  so 
called,  while  in  another  direction  respect  for  Virgil's  name  and 
works  was  enhanced  by  the  exigencies  of  statecraft.  History 
always  lays  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  rude  barbarians,  upon 
making  a  conquest  of  a  civilized  nation,  are  themselves  sub- 
dued by  its  culture.  This  fact  was  never  better  shown  than  in 
the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  customs  of  the  vanquished 
took  the  place  of  those  which  had  been  characteristic  of  the 
victors.  lu  ruins,  Rome  was  still  the  measure  of  all  that  was 
glorious,  and  the  posterity  of  those  fierce  leaders  who  destroyed 
the  city  Avere  flattered  when  they  heard  themselves  compared 
to  its  celebrities,  and  even  brought  into  affinity  of  blood  with 
them.  Xothing  could  have  been  more  pleasing  to  Charlemagne 
than  the  conjecture  that  traced  his  descent  from  the  jDious 
-^neas ;  nor  could  any  device  be  thought  of  that  would  serve 
so  well  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  Virgil.  It  enveloped  the 
Court  of  Charlemagne  in  a  mist  of  pedantry  which  affected 
the  minds  of  men  through  a  long  subsequent  period. 

A  lively  interest  in  the  writings  of  Virgil  increased  the  desire 
to  possess  copies  of  his  works.  Abbots  transcribed  his  poems  and 
preserved  these  transcripts  in  their  cloisters.  Monks  who  had 
sacrificed  the  pleasures  of  the  world  for  those  of  learning  were 
diligently  employed  in  multiplying  these  manuscripts.  Monastic 
libraries  soon  possessed  not  one,  or  two,  but  many  transcripts 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  51 

written  with  all  the  care  and  illuminated  with  all  the  skill  of 
which  the  copyists  were  capable.*  That  this  multiplication  of 
Virgilian  manuscripts  was  the  outcome,  not  of  a  momentary  de- 
sire, but  of  the  eager  wish  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge,  is 
shown  by  the  manner  of  writing  them.  Sometimes  they  are 
arranged  in  double  columns,  one  column  containing  the  text, 
the  other  the  Servian  commentary  ;  sometimes  in  two  volumes, 
one  of  which  is  the  commentary.  In  other  cases  a  multitude  of 
interlinear  and  marginal  glosses  darken  the  text.  Where  one 
left  a  little  room,  there  another  has  laboriously  written,  so  that 
in  one  of  these  venerable  parchments  we  may  see  crowded 
together  the  proofs  of  learned  diligence  on  the  part  of  many 
generations.  Even  the  commentary  is  interlined  with  new 
comment  as  well  as  explained  in  additional  manuscripts.  Other 
glosses  betray  the  efforts  of  vernacular  translators.  By  means 
of  this  manifold  contact  with  the  poems  of  Virgil  into  which 
the  schools  and  literature  of  these  times  were  brought,  even 
the  prose  style  of  many  writers  took  a  Virgilian  cast,  and  the 
poetical  Latinity  appears  so  predominantly  Maronic  that  few 
authors  can  be  cited  in  whom  this  influence  is  not  easily  shown. 
Verses  and  parts  of  verses  woven  into  their  ^vl'itings  evince 
their  indebtedness  to  Virgil;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  case  of 
Helpidius,  Priscianus,  Orientius,  Ennodius,  Boethius,  Avitus, 
Mavortus,  Honorius  Scholasticus,  Arator,  Flavius  Cresconius 


*Heyne  says  [de  VirgUii  Oodicibw^  MSS.,  ad  jinem,]  that  the  number 
of  these  copies  is  almost  incredible,  but  that  for  the  most  part  it 
would  be  a  mere  waste  of  time  to  examine  them.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  Heyne  was  disposed  to  deal  with  monks  after  the 
fashion  set  at  Donnybrook  Fair — wherever  he  saw  a  head,  to  hit  it. 
Moreover,  he  was  thinking  only  of  what  served  to  elucidate  the 
meaning  of  Virgil,  not  of  what  cast  a  light  on  the  prejudices,  super- 
stitions or  eccentricities  of  the  middle  ages. 


52  MAS  TEE   VIE  GIL 

Corippus  and  Venantius  Fortunatus  before  the  opening  of  the 
seventh  century ;  in  Marcus,  Bertharius,  Columbanus,  Aldhelm, 
Bede,  Boniface,  Paul  Warnefrid,  Gottschalk  and  Alcuin,  who 
flourished  in  the  two  centuries  that  followed ;  in  Farduelph, 
Angilbert,  Sedulius,  Ethelwolf,  Theodulph,  Candidus,  Nigellus, 
Ermoldus,  Berthold,  Walafrid  Strabo,  Engelmoldus,  Drepanius 
Florus,  Milo,  Agius,  Abbo  and  Notker  Balbulus  of  the  ninth 
century;  in  Rathbode,  Salomo,  Fridegode,  Frodoardus,  Luit- 
prandus,  Theodulus,  Hrotswitha,  Syrus,  Purchardus  and  Uffo 
of  the  tenth  century;  in  Wolstan,  Abbo  of  Fleury,  Aimoin, 
Froumund,  Fulbert,  Ekkehard,  Adalbero,  Ingelramus,  Mal- 
chus,  Jotsaldus,  Gilbert,  Waldo,  Wido,  William  of  Apulia, 
Gaufrid  Malaterrse  and  Conrad  of  the  eleventh  century ;  and 
in  Radulphus  Cadomensis,  Sigebert,  Laurentius  of  Verona, 
Domnizo,  Hilarius,  Fulcherius,  Baldricus,  Moses  Bergomensis, 
Bernard  of  Cluny,  William  of  Chester,  Peter  the  Venerable 
and  Osbert  of  Westminster  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  last 
of  these  writers  brings  us  in  literary  history  to  the  time  when 
the  leonine  verse,  which  had  hitherto  been  restricted  to  the 
hymns  of  the  Church,  extended  its  sway  over  the  whole 
province  of  poetry.  Under  the  jingling  rule  of  rhyme,  the 
influence  of  Virgil  was  lessened ;  but  he  did  not  surrender  his 
commanding  place  in  Latin  verse  without  leaving  traces  of 
his  presence  in  the  vigorous  life  of  newly-risen  national 
literatures. 

It  is  pertinent,  in  view  of  these  examples,  to  remark  that 
the  knowledge  of  Virgil  exhibited  in  them  was  not  confined  to 
the  masters  of  learning.  Wherever  at  any  time,  even  the 
darkest,  schools  were  known,  there  Virgil's  works  were  a 
subject  of  study.  The  grammarians  were  a  narrow-minded 
and  servile  race,  who  restricted  their  labors  to  selections  and 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  53 

compilations  from  the  commentaries  of  Donatus  and  Priscian. 
To  such  an  extent  was  Donatus  used  that  his  name  was 
reduced  to  a  common  noun,  synonymous  with  the  term  text 
book.  But  in  spite  of  their  want  of  independence,  the  gram- 
marians proved  themselves  to  be  excellent  promoters  of  a 
knowledge  of  Virgil.  The  rules  which  they  laid  down  were 
illustrated  and  enforced  with  his  verses.  With  similar  quota- 
tions from  him,  the  teachers  in  the  mediaeval  schools  explained 
questions  in  archaeology,  and  made  extracts  also  as  themes 
for  the  study  of  style.  In  this  way,  perhaps,  even  those  who 
never  had  the  opportunity  to  draw  directly  from  the  well  of 
.Virgilian  poesy  gained  some  knowledge  of  it — a  knowledge 
eked  out  by  the  anthologies.  The  legendary  tendency  of  the 
times  was  shown  in  the  fact  that  a  grammatical  quack  imposed 
a  work  on  the  science  of  language  upon  the  people  as  a 
treatise  written  by  A^irgil,  who  was  supposed  to  have  lived  not 
long  subsequent  to  the  Deluge.  Virgil's  extraordinary  learn* 
ing,  as  set  forth  in  his  book,  savored  of  necromancy.  By  it 
he  was  enabled  to  divide  the  Latin  into  twelve  distinct 
languages. 


Among  religious  enthusiasts,  especially  ascetics,  the  tendency 
was,  during  these  centuries,  to  exaggerate  the  attractions  of 
Virgil's  poems  in  order  to  emphasize  the  peril  that  was  incurred 
by  their  perusal.  Herbert  of  Norwich  dreamed  that  Christ 
appeared  to  him,  saying :  "It  is  not  proper  for  the  lips  of  those 
that  preach  Christ  to  recite  the  lies  of  Ovid  and  the  inventions 
of  Virgil."  The  holy  man  confessed  that  he  had  sinned,  not 
only  in  reading,  but  in  imitating  these  poets.     St.  Odo,  having 


54  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

cherished  a  desire  to  read  Virgil,  was  deterred  by  a  dream  in 
which  he  was  shown  a  vase  of  beautiful  exterior,  but  fiUed 
with  venomous  serpents.  He  interpreted  the  vision  to  mean 
that  the  perfection  of  Virgil's  style  served  only  to  conceal  the 
mortal  perils  that  lurked  in  his  poems.  A  certain  monk, 
Probus  by  name,  is  mentioned  in  the  eleventh  century  as  such 
an  admirer  of  Virgil  and  Cicero  that  he  wished  his  brethren  to 
assist  him  in  the  effort  to  have  these  pagans  canonized.  Bishop 
Rigbodo  of  Treves  was  accused  of  being  more  familiar  with 
the  ^neid  than  Avith  the  Gospels.  Vilgard,  a  student  of 
Ravenna,  after  incessant  study  of  the  classic  writers,  dreamed 
one  night,  it  is  said,  that  Virgil,  Horace  and  Juvenal  appeared 
to  him,  urging  him  to  still  greater  efforts  in  reading  and  ex- 
plaining their  works.  They  assured  him  that,  if  he  continued 
in  the  way  he  had  begun,  he  should  attain  a  renown  equal  to 
theirs.  This  dream  had  so  great  an  effect  upon  him  that  he 
began  to  teach  many  things  contrary  to  the  faith,  and  was 
finally  condemned  and  punished  for  heresy. 

The  constant  phrase  in  the  mouths  of  the  religious  extremists 
was  that  the  truth  was  uttered  not  by  the  orators  and  poets, 
but  by  fools  and  fishermen.  It  was  triumphantly  asked  what 
there  was  in  Horace  to  compare  Avith  the  psalms,  or  in  Virgil 
to  compare  with  the  Gospels.  For  it  was  not  commendable  in 
a  holy  man  to  talk  of  mere  fables  like  the  wars  of  the  iEneid, 
the  Aviles  of  Cupid,  the  despair  of  Dido,  the  gloomy  threshold 
of  Pluto.  What  was  the  use  of  reading  the  empty  phrases  of 
wicked  poets  like  Homer  and  Virgil  and  Menander?  Mere 
graces  of  style  were  to  be  despised,  for  it  was  not  Maro,  nor 
Cicero,  nor  the  most  wise  Homer,  to  whom  it  was  said,  "Go 
into  all  the  world" — but  to  an  unlearned  man — St.  Peter. 
The  classic  poems  Avere  denounced  as  inspired  by  the  arts  of 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  55 

the  devil — dccmonis  arte;  and  it  was  made  a  mntter  of  unavail- 
ing regret  that  many  Catholics  were  to  be  found  who,  for  the 
sake  of  the  elegant  language,  preferred  the  vanities  of  pagan 
literature  to  the  useful  truths  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Holy 
men,  while  they  acknowledged  that  in  youth  they  had  been 
guilty  of  reading  w'ith  delight  the  lies  of  Virgil  (the  phrase  of 
Alcuin's  biographer,  viendacia  Virgilii),  as  they  grew  old,  not 
only  refused  to  listen  to  such  tales,  but  exhorted  the  youth  to 
avoid  them. 


VI 


Not  less  unreal  was  the  conception  of  Virgil  embodied  in 
the  romances  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  poets  of  the  ver- 
nacular lano-uajres  thought  of  him  as  a  learned  clerk  in  the 
midst  of  a  feudal  society  composed  of  dukes,  barons,  bishops, 
court-ladies,  damsels,  knights ;  yet  not  without  a  reminiscence 
of  his  fame  as  a  poet.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  wide  divergence  between  the  classic  and  romantic  periods  in 
poetry  rendered  impossible  the  appreciation  of  the  ancient 
poets  by  the  popular  writers  of  the  middle  ages.  The  literary 
spirit  of  the  twelfth  century  was  not  intentionally  reactionary. 
The  Latin,  which  was  in  effect  still  a  living  language,  served 
as  a  means  of  communication  between  the  works  of  antiquity, 
and  even  those  new  productions  which  had  a  reason  for  their 
existence  quite  independent  of  the  past.  While  it  preserved 
imperfectly  the  memory  of  its  own  vanished  excellence,  it  was 
also  the  organ  of  a  living  sentiment,  to  express  which  it  had 
undergone  the  change  that  made  it,  in  comparison  with  the 
classical  ideal,  seem  corrupt.  The  poets  of  the  new  languages 
did  not  condemn  antiquity ;  on  the  contrary,  they  looked  upon 


56  MASTER   VIRGIL 

it  with  a  reverence  traditional  in  its  origin,  and  thoroughly 
legendary  in  its  effect.  Classical  poetry  was  an  unapproachable 
thing  to  be  treated  with  homage,  and  it  was  a  very  frequent 
device  with  romancers  to  cite  as  the  source  of  their  narratives 
some  real  or  imaginary  book  in  the  Latin.  To  them  the  ancient 
hero  was  a  knight,  the  ancient  heroine  a  dame  of  high  degree ; 
paganism  was  a  species  of  magic,  each  national  religion  having 
its  specialty  in  necromancy.  The  ^neid  of  Virgil,  when 
translated  by  these  fanciful  writers,  lost  its  distinctive  character 
of  a  romantic  epic,  and  became  a  legendary  romance. 

This  conception  of  Virgil  is  illustrated  in  Li  Romans  de 
Dolopathos,  the  earliest  work  in  which  the  story  of  the  Seven 
Wise  Men  reached  Western  Europe.  Until  recently  it  was  a 
question  whether  there  was  a  peculiar  Latin  original  of  this 
French  romance.  Certainly,  if  there  were  one  it  must  differ 
in  a  marked  degree  from  the  well  known  book,  Hidoria  Septem 
Sapieniium.  In  the  former  Virgil  is  the  most  prominent  char- 
acter placed  before  the  reader,  while  in  the  latter  he  is  merely 
mentioned  in  one  of  the  subordinate  tales.  That  there  was,  in 
addition  to  the  common  book,  a  composition  in  Latin  on  the 
general  plan  of  the  eastern  and  western  writings  of  the  class 
alluded  to,  was  supported  by  some  slight  documentary  testi- 
mony preserved  by  Martene.  On  the  other  hand,  no  Latin  pro- 
duction corresponding  to  the  Dolopathos,  though  much  sought, 
had  yet  been  found.  This  fact  had  been  accepted  by  very 
many  learned  medisevalists  as  proof  that  no  such  Latin  work 
ever  was  written.  But  in  1873  Hermann  Oesterley  published 
the  book  of  Johannes  de  Alta  Silva,  copying  a  manuscript 
found  in  the  Athenaeum  Library  at  Luxemburg,  thus  establish- 
ing the  conclusion  of  de  Montaiglon  that  two  Latin  versions 
were  made,  widely  different  in  detail  from  each  other, 
and  clearing  up  every  doubt   as  to  the  fact  that   the  Dolopathos 


JN    L  I  TERA  !,'  Y     TBA  I>  I  T  !  O  .V  57 

was  written  late  in  the  twelfth  century  by  John  or  Jehan,  a 
monk  of  Hauteselve,  in  Lorraine.  It  was  soon  afterward 
translated  into  French  verse  by  Herbers,  a  trouvere.  In 
general  plan  it  is  similar  to  the  ordinary  versions  of  The  Seven 
Wise  Men.  The  prominence  given  to  the  name  of  Virgil  is 
remarkable  for  the  reason  that  if  Jehan  used  any  manuscript 
authorities,  he  must  have  had  recourse  either  to  the  Arabic, 
the  Hebrew  or  the  Greek,  versions  under  different  titles  being 
then  extant  in  those  languages.  It  is  not  thought  possible 
that  the  Arabian  tale  of  The  Seven  Wezeers  could  have  been 
known  in  Europe  at  so  early  a  date.  In  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  versions  the  names  of  Sendebar  and  Syntipas  are  very 
nearly  literal  equivalents  of  the  oriental  name  Sendebad. 
Though  these  Avere  undoubtedly  known  in  some  parts  of 
Europe  when  Jehan  wrote,  it  would  seem  improbable,  from  the 
peculiarity, of  his  production,  that  he  ever  saw  either  of  them. 
That  the  later  work,  the  Kistoria  SeptemSapientium,  was  founded 
on  the  Hebrew  version  is  almost  sufficient  in  itself  to  prove  that 
Jehan's  romance  had  no  written  source.  The  suggestion  is  a 
plausible  one  that  the  monk  of  Lorraine  owed  his  inspiration 
to  an  oral  narrative  which,  in  its  progress  westward,  had  lost 
its  oriental  traits,  and  had  taken  on  others  more  easily  under- 
stood by  its  feudal  auditors.  This  spoken  narrative  would  be 
specially  liable  to  drop  all  Eastern  names,  and  to  incorporate 
others  which  happened  to  appeal  strongly  to  the  story  teller's 
imagination,  and  to  prove  agreeable  to  the  audiences  before 
whom  he  recited ;  and  it  would  be  assigned  by  each  succeed- 
ing narrator  to  the  country  from  which  it  had  come  to  him. 
This  theory  seems  probable,  in  spite  of  the  vague  hint  given  by 
Herbers  that  Jehan  only  converted  into  Latin  a  tale  which 
he  found  written  in  another  language. 


58  MASTER    VIRGIL 

As  the  Dolopathos  has  descended  to  the  present  day,  it  is  a 
French  poem  of  twelve  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  one  lines. 
The  scene  is  the  Court  of  Sicily,  whose  ruler  was  subject, 
according  to  the  feudal  idea,  to  the  overlordship  of  Augustus 
at  Rome.  Dolopathos,  the  king,  was  accused  of  treason  by  an 
envious  faction,  and  ordered  to  come  to  court  by  Augustus  for 
the  purpose  of  defending  himself.  Upon  his  explanation 
Augustus  sent  a  messenger  to  Sicily  to  try  the  case,  and  the 
accusers  were  punished.  Dolopathos,  thus  confirmed  in  the 
possession  of  his  kingdom,  married  the  daughter  of  King 
Agrippa,  the  niece  of  Augustus.  The  son  born  of  this  mar- 
riage was  named  Lucimien,  and,  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  was 
sent  to  Rome  to  be  educated  in  the  seven  arts.  After  the 
centuries  that  had  been  spent  in  grammatical  study,  of  which 
Virgil's  works  were  the  principal  subject,  it  does  not  seem 
unnatural  that  the  author  of  the  Dolopathos  should  have  formed 
an  idea  of  Virgil  as  a  great  teacher.  As  Plato  had  said  that 
a  king,  to  be  a  wise  ruler,  must  be  a  philosopher,  so  Dolopathos 
chose  the  wisest  of  men,  renowned  for  his  clergie,  as  his  son's 
instructor.  Virgil  was  a  native  of  a  city  of  Sicily  called 
"Maante"  or  "Mantue,"  and  he  not  only  surpassed  all  other 
clerks  in  knowledge,  but  he  was  also  the  greatest  of  poets. 
He  found  Lucimien  an  apt  pupU,  who  easily  penetrated  the 
mysteries  of  the  trivium  and  quadrivium.  Even  Virgil  mar- 
veled at  the  ease  with  which  his  pupil  mastered  grammar,  the 
mother  and  ruler  of  all  the  arts,  and  the  two  arts  of  dialectic 
and  rhetoric  in  which  he  himself  excelled.  The  feudal  idea  of 
rank  was  cal-ried  by  Herbers  even  into  the  schools.  Virgil  was 
looked  upon  by  other  poets  as  nothing  less  than  a  deity. 
Many  other  learned  men  were  to  be  found  at  Rome,  but  Virgil 
was  specially  honored  by  the  command  of  Csesar,  and  had 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  59 

over  the  other  clerks  the  mestrie  and  signorie  so  that  they 
stood  to  him  in  the  relation  of  vassals.  He  was  Mestre 
Virgile,  Magider  Virgilius,  not  only  as  distinguished  from  his 
pupils,  but  among  the  other  less  renowned  teachers.  The 
pupils  committed  to  his  care  were  those  of  the  highest  birth. 
His  dress  accorded  with  the  honor  conferred  upon  him.  He 
sat  upoii  a  high  seat.  A  rich  cloak,  lined  with  fur,  was  his 
outermost  garment.  Upon  his  head  he  wore  a  cap  made  of 
fur.  The  mediaeval  notion  of  a  scholar  completely  destroyed 
the  historical  and  traditionary  figure  of  Virgil.  Instead  of 
the  tall,  awkward  man  who  figured  in  the  biography  attributed 
to  Donatus,  Herbers  imagined  a  small,  withered  personage, 
who,  as  men  of  learning  were  in  the  habit  of  doing,  with  head 
bent,  looked  upon  the  ground  continually,  as  if  in  deep 
thought. 

The  man  ,of  great  learning  in  the  middle  ages  became  an 
instructor  of  youth  from  the  necessity  of  the  case.  Hardly 
any  other  employment  was  open  to  him.  But  this  conception 
of  Virgil,  reacting  upon  the  legitimate  biographical  tradition, 
made  him  the  teacher  of  Marcellus,  and  finally  occasioned  a 
legend  that  he  had  founded  a  school  at  Naples,  and  this 
school  was  very  naturally  thought  to  have  been  a  place  for  the 
study  of  magic. 


VII 


So  in  the  more  trivial  matter  of  mere  literary  anecdote,  the 
tendency  with  respect  to  Virgil  was  legendary.  The  earliest 
traditions  have  an  historical  value.  Gellius  and  Pliny  related 
that  in  their  time  manuscripts  in  the  handwriting  of  the  poet 
still  existed.     Gellius  remarked,  on  the  authority  of  tradition, 


60 


MAS  TEE    VIE  GIL 


that  Virgil  was   an  enthusiastic  student  of  antiquities,  thus 
laying  emphasis  on  a  fact  which  is  apparent  to  the  student  of 
the  iEneid.     Again,  he   preserved   a   graphic  description    of 
Virgil's  method  of  composition  which  had  been  handed  down 
from  the  Augustan  age.     Virgil's  contemporaries  said  that  his 
verses,  when   first   put  down   in  writing,  were    as   shapeless 
as     unlicked    bear     cubs,    and     that     it     required     great 
labor  on  the  part  of  the  poet  to  reduce  them  to  that  smooth- 
ness and   harmony   for   which   he   was    famous.     These   are 
examples  of  the  few  anecdotes  that  may  be  looked  upon  as 
authentic.     The  same  may  be  said  of  the  story  respecting  the 
fortune  which  Octavian  and  Scribonia  bestowed  upon  him,  if 
it  be  taken  in  its  simplest  form.     But  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the   clumsy  witticisms   attributed   to   Virgil   in   the   life   by 
Donatus,  so-called,   betray  the  stifihess  of  the  schoolmaster 
rather  than  the  skill  of  the   practised   literary  man  or  the 
polished  courtier.     The  reply  to  Maecenas  might  well  owe  its 
origin  to  some  pedagogue  of  an  epigrammatic  turn.     "How 
shall  a  man  preserve  his  good  fortune  ?"  inquired  the  Etruscan. 
"By  surpassing  others  in  justice  and  liberality  as  much  as  in 
wealth  and  honors,"  said  Virgil.     Or  this :   Maecenas  asked  if 
there  could  be  anything  in  the  pursuit  of  which  a  man  would 
not  become   weary.      Virgil's   oracular   response   was:     "All 
things,   save  knowledge,   are  wearisome  by  reason  either  of 
their  multitude  or  their  likeness  to  each  other."     To  Augustus, 
desiring  a  comprehensive  rule  for  governing  the  empire  well, 
the  poet  said:   "Prefer  the  good  and  the  prudent  before  the 
wicked,  then  the  best  men  will  be  honored  and  the  manifestly 
unjust  will   be  excluded  from  power."     When  a  friend  told 
him  how  one  Cornificius  condemned  him,  he  replied:   "I  have 
the  penalty  for  him;  the  more  care  I  show,  and  the  more 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  61 

praiseworthy  I  am,  the  more  annoying  to  himself  will  be  his 
envy."  At  another  time  he  was  vexed  by  the  clumsy  sarcasms 
of  Philistus,  a  disputatious  lecturer  and  mediocre  poet,  but 
steadily  maintained  a  discreet  silence.  "You  have  a  tongue," 
exclaimed  Augustus,  "defend  yourself."  Maro  answered :  "If 
he,"  alluding  to  the  rhetorician,  "knew  when  to  be  still,  he 
would  speak  more  rarely.  For  one  should  be  silent  unless 
silence  is  injurious,  or  speech  profitable.  He  who  is  conten- 
tious and  knows  not  when  to  quit,  is  reckoned  by  the  wise 
with  fools."  Condemned  for  transferring  passages  from  Homer 
to  his  own  works,  he  rejoined:  "Only  the  strong  can  wield  the 
club  of  Hercules." 

Some  fragments  of  native  folk-lore  clustered  about  the  name 
of  Virgil,  even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Suetonius — -for  example, 
the  stories  of  the  portents  that  preceded  his  birth,  and  of  the 
miraculous  growth  and  virtues  of  the  tree  which  was  called 
by  his  name.  But  in  the  times  when  the  study  of  Virgil's 
works  was  corrupted  by  the  passion  for  mere  legend,  the  most 
extraordinary  fictions  were  retailed  as  part  of  the  poet's 
genuine  biography.  Alexander  Neckam's  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  poem  entitled  Galex  was  one  of  the  least  incredi- 
ble of  these  legendary  narratives.  He  related  that  when 
Virgil  was  on  his  journey  from  Athens  back  to  his  native 
land,  he  became '  weary  by  the  way,  and  composed  himself  to 
sleep  in  a  recess,  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  a  serpent  had 
chosen  the  place  for  a  den.  While  he  slept,  a  gnat  lighted  on 
his  lip  to  watch  over  the  safety  of  so  great  a  guest.  The 
serpent,  upon  returning  to  his  hiding  place,  attempted  to 
enter  the  open  mouth  of  the  unconscious  philosopher.  The 
gnat  stung  Maro  sharply  on  the  lip  and  awoke  him.  With 
swift  hand  he  killed  the  little  sentinel  to  which  he  owed  his 


62  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

safety.  Looking  about  him,  the  glorious  poet  perceived  that 
the  insect  which  he  had  killed  was  really  the  preserver  of  his 
life;  so  that,  while  he  thought  himself  rid  of  a  torment,  he 
had  killed  a  faithful  friend.  To  honor  as  best  he  might 
the  memory  of  the  gnat,  before  he  left  the  shady  recess,  he 
comjiosed  a  noble  epitaph  containing  an  account  of  the 
incident.  At  length  he  published  a  little  book  which  he 
inscribed  with  the  title  De  Culice,  in  which  the  shepherd,  in 
danger  from  a  serpent  and  awakened  by  a  gnat,  was  really  the 
poet  himself.  Such  a  story  might  easily  grow  out  of  the  theory 
that  the  poet  made  many  veiled  allusions  in  his  verses  to  the 
occurrences  in  his  life.  The  story  that  Cicero,  once  at  the  theatre, 
upon  hearing  a  portion  of  the  Sixth  eclogue  recited,  exclaimed, 
"  MagyiCB  spes  altera  Romce,"  meaning  that  though  he  was  an  aged 
man,  and  must  soon  be  gone,  here  was  a  youth  who  would  confer 
equal  renown  upon  the  literature  of  Rome,  can  not  be  true  for 
obvious  chronological  reasons.  It  was  the  creation  of  a  time 
when  fanciful  tales  passed  for  history.  The  familiar  anecdote 
about  the  verses  which  Virgil  is  said  to  have  written  on  the 
gates  of  the  Imperial  palace  must  have  owed  its  origin  to  an 
age  very  low  in  the  scale  of  grammatical  learning.  It  is 
worthy  of  mention  that  this  is  the  only  remnant  of  the  tradi- 
tions or  legends  respecting  Virgil  which  has  left  a  trace  in  the 
New  World.  It  is  from  the  crude  verses  attributed  to  him 
in  this  instance  that  the  motto  of  the  State  of  Georgia  was 
taken. 

In  the  eleventh  century,  the  fact  of  Virgil's  indebtedness  to 
Octavian  and  his  wife  was  expanded  to  legendary  proportions. 
It  was  said  that  for  the  lines, 

Nocte  pluit  tota,  redeunt  spectacula  mane; 
Divisum  imperium  cum  Jove  Caesar  habet, 


IN  LITERARY  TRADITION  '         63 

he  was  rewarded  not  only  with  gold  from  the  treasury  of 
Julius  Csesar,  but  with  his  liberty,  having  been  ux^  to  this 
time  the  slave  of  Octavianus.  Alexander  of  Toleta  affirmed 
that  for  this  distich  Virgil  received  as  his  feof  the  city  of 
Naples  with  the  country  of  Calabria.  Such  an  idea  came 
easily  out  of  the  world-wide  respect  paid  to  Virgil's  tomb  at 
Naples.  It  ran  parallel  to  the  other  threads  of  legends,  and 
served  to  invest  the  locality  of  Naples  with  associations  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  readers  of  the  poet. 


FOURTH— riBGlL' S  BOOK  OF  MAGIC 


An  ancient  tradition,  dating  from  the  time  of  Asconius 
Pedianus  and,  perhaps,  from  that  of  Virgil  himself,  concern- 
ing the  authenticity  of  which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  gave  out 
that  certain  passages  of  the  eclogues  contained  covert  allusions 
to  incidents  in  the  poet's  own  life,  and  to  notable  events  of  his 
time.  This  vague  report,  unaccompanied  by  any  particulars, 
left  the  Yirgilian  interpreters  to  their  own  fruitful  conjectures 
and  speculations.  To  what  an  extreme  their  ill-disciplined  fancy 
led  them  was  exemplified  by  the  interpolated  remark  in  the 
commentary  attributed  to  Servius,  a  grammarian  of  the  fourth 
century,  upon  the  first  eclogue,  resolving  it  into  an  allegory 
where  Tityrus  represented  Virgil ;  the  pine  tree,  Rome ;  the 
fountains,  Senators  or  poets,  and  the  groves,  the  scholars  of 
the  schools,  while  by  the  words,  Suh  tegmine  fagi,  the  poet 
was  supposed  to  mean  the  possessions  conferred  upon  him  by 
Octavianus. 

Such  a  tradition  could  not  be  allowed  to  rest  all  but  forgot- 
ten in  the  midst  of  the  grammatical  activity  which  continued 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAG  10  65 

from  Virgil's  owu  times  for   centuries  without  intermission. 
The  natural  result  of  the  tendency  to  an  undue  exaltation  of 
Virgil  was  a  series  of  new  and  forced  interpretations  of  the 
Virgilian  poems  by  which  their  meaning  was  extended  to  take 
in  not  only  all  departments  of  science  as  then  cultivated,  but 
also  a  vast  deal  of  the  superhuman  and  impossible.     Donatus 
conceived  the  order  of  Virgil's  works  to  be  that  of  human 
progress  from  savagery  to  refinement.      Men  had  first   been 
shepherds;  therefore,  Maro  fii-st  composed  his  bucolics.     Then 
they   learned   to   cultivate   the   ground,  and  Virgil   likewise 
followed    his    earlier    poems    with    a   series    upon  husbandry 
in   the    georgics.     As    men    became    more    numerous,   they 
crowded  upon  each  other.    "Rivalries  increased  with  civiliza- 
tion, and  produced  the  warlike  state  of  society  represented  in 
the  ^neid.     This  allegorizing  tendency  had  already  reached 
such  a  stage  in  the  fourth  century  that  the  whole  sixth  book 
of   the   JEneid   was   supposed   to   be   based  upon   astrology, 
Servius,  while  aiming  to  pursue  a  simple  method,  which  he 
correctly  defined  as  in  opposition  to  the  allegorical  mode  of 
interpretation,  was  nevertheless  drawn  by  the  current  fashion 
into  fanciful  theories  as  to  Virgil's  meaning.     Writing  of  the 
golden  branch  which  ^neas  plucked  and  carried  Avith   him 
into  Hades,  Servius  represented  it  to  mean  the  letter  Upsilon, 
which  in  the  system  of  the  Pythagoreans  was  an  emblem  of 
human  life.     The  fancy  attributed  to  the  poet  was  that  ^neas 
took  with  him  the  virtues  as  an  offering  to  Proserpine.     He 
described  the  branch  hidden  in  the  depths  of  a  gloomy  forest 
— so  the  integrity  of  a  good  life  was  hidden  in  the  rank  growth 
of  human  vices. 

This  treatment  of  the  poet  by  the  grammarians  was  not 
more  extravagant  than  the  vagaries  of  the  later  rhetoricians 


66  MASTER    VIRGIL 

who,  led  by  T.  C.  Donatus,  attributed  to  Virgil  all  the  virtues 
and  knowledge  required  of  the  perfect  orator.  Whoever 
passed  through  the  hands  of  these  teachers  of  grammar  and 
rhetoric  learned  to  look  upon  Virgil  as  the  type  of  all  that 
was  excellent  in  every  form  of  literature,  containing  within 
himself  all  the  potentialities  of  science  and  of  culture.  In 
the  Saturnalia  of  Macrobius,  Virgil  is  glorified  as  the  master 
of  the  whole  circle  of  learning.  It  is  the  only  work  of  those 
times,  now  extant,  with  the  exception  of  the  commentaries, 
which  pretends  to  treat  of  Virgil  distinctively  throughout. 
Macrobius's  pretext  was  ostensibly  a  desire  to  bring  together, 
for  the  instruction  of  his  son,  the  results  of  his  extensive  and 
varied  reading.  By  connecting  the  matter  loosely  in  the  way 
he  adopted,  he  secured  the  form  of  a  convivial  dialogue,  and, 
by  making  Virgil  the  central  theme  of  all  the  discourses,  he 
testified  to  the  eminent  place  occupied  by  the  poet  in  all  the 
thought  of  the  times.  He  aimed  at  giving  his  work  the  air  of 
a  critical  and  impartial  discussion  upon  the  merits  of  the  poet, 
but  from  the  modern  point  of  view  he  has,  in  this  respect, 
conspicuously  failed.  No  doubt  he  was  as  deeply  learned  and 
as  acute  in  criticism  as  comported  with  the  period  of  literary 
decadence  to  which  he  belonged.  In  his  dialogue  the  person- 
ages introduced  are  given  the  names,  and  probably  the 
individual  opinions,  of  learned  men,  his  own  contemporaries. 
They  are  described  as  with  the  author  devoting  the  period  of 
their  recreation  to  contemplating  the  great  poet  in  the  highest 
sphere  of  his  intellectual  activity,  far  removed  from  the  rude 
conception  of  him  entertained  by  the  vulgar.  The  ideal  of 
Virgil  held  up  for  admiration  in  the  schools  was  condemned  by 
them  as  poor,  low  and  inadequate  from  their  point  of  view, 
and  so  it  was  also  from  the  modern  point  of  view,  but  for  a 


THE  BOOK   OF  MA  G I C  67 

totally  different  reason  from  that  which  occurred  to  Miicrobius. 
Imagining  that  there  was  much  more  in  the  Virgilian  poems 
than  the  grammarians,  with  all  their  minuteness,  had  been  able 
to  discover,  he  demanded  a  deeper  insight  and  a  more  thorough 
exploration  of  meanings  that  had  been  left  by  Virgil  purposely 
in  obscurity.  In  outlining  such  an  investigation,  he  might 
have  been  expected  to  mark  a  distinct  reaction  from  the  notions 
of  the  times  which  he  condemned ;  but  instead  of  any  such 
reaction,  he  manifested  only  a  new  phase  of  the  tendencies 
which  he  deprecated. 

In  the  Saturnalia  not  only  is  Virgil  learned  in  all  directions 
— he  is  infallible.  Macrobius  did  not  admit,  as  some  other 
grammarians  felt  it  necessary  to  do,  that  errors  and  defects 
could  be  found  in  the  poetry  of  Virgil.  These  apparent 
lapses  were  due,  in  his  opinion,  entirely  to  the  want  of  capacity 
or  genius  in,  the  different  readers.  The  whole  work  is  devoted 
to  demonsti'ating  the  immensity  of  Vii'gil's  hitherto  concealed 
knowledge.  To  use  expressions  similar  to  his  own,  Macrobius 
pi'oposed  that  the  infinite  number  of  places  in  Virgil's  works 
over  Avhich  the  common  herd  of  expositors  passed  dry-shod 
— as  if  what  a  grammarian  assumed  to  be  plain  was  obvious  to 
every  reader — should  no  longer  remain  in  the  depths;  but 
that  the  proper  method  of  investigation  having  been  discov- 
ered, the  deepest  recesses  of  the  poet's  thought  should  be 
opened  to  the  veneration  of  the  learned.  Of  course,  it  was 
necessary  that  the  part  of  a  critic  adverse  to  the  poet  should 
be  represented  in  the  dialogue.  This  person  to  whom  Macrobius 
gives  the  name  of  Evangelus,  is  apparently  altogether  ficti- 
tious. He  lacks  the  vigor  and  personal  completeness  with  which 
the  author  succeeded  in  investing  his  other  characters.  He 
does  not  embody  the  opinions  of  the  writers  opposed  to  Virgil 


68  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

in  the  age  when  Macrobius  wrote.     His  prejudices  are  rather 
those  of  the  first  century,  which  the  advocates  of  the  poet  had 
long  since  disposed  of.     The  sole  duty  of  Evangelus  in  the 
dialogue  is  to  bring  out  by  means  of  his  objections  the  counter 
arguments   of    the   other   speakers.     His   presence   is   barely 
tolerated  by  Macrobius  and  his  friends,  and  his  speeches  are 
usually  mere  quotations  from  some  ancient  critic.     He  finally 
reaches  the  point  of  denying  that  Virgil,  born  in  an  obscure 
village,  could  have  learned  Greek  literature.     Such  an  absurdity 
did  not  occur  to  the  most  bitter  detractor  in  the  Augustan  age, 
and  Macrobius  Avould  perhaps   hardly  have  thought   of    it, 
except  for  its  convenience  as  a  pretext  to  explain  the  really 
profound   knowledge   of  Greek   literature  which  Virgil   pos- 
sessed.    This  is  the  theme  of  the  entire  fifth  book,  as  auswer- 
ing   in   part   an   objection  of  Evangelus,  who  declares  that 
he  can  see  nothing  in  Virgil  more  than  simply  the  poet ;  that 
as  a  poet  he  has  left  in  his  works  many  errors,  and  that  he 
himself  recognized  the  lack  of  merit  in  his  works  by  his  dying 
request  that  the  ^Eneid  should  be  burned.     Symmachus,  on 
the  other  hand,  maintains  that  Vu-gil  is  not  only  suitable  to 
the  instruction  of   children,  but  contains  thiugs  worthy  the 
attention  of  mature  readers.     "The  glory  of  Virgil  is  such," 
he   adds,  "that   it   can  neither   be    increased   by   praise   nor 
diminished  by  censure."     To  this  the  other  speakers  agree,  and 
they  then  undertake   to  reply  to   Evangelus  in    detail,  each 
taking  up  a  particular  department  of  learning  and  demon- 
strating Virgil's   perfection  in   it.     Eustathius  discussed   the 
poet's     proficiency    in    astrology    and     philosophy    and     his 
acquaintance  with  Greek  literature  ;  Flavian  and  Vettius,  his 
acquaintance  with  the  sacred   science  of  the  Romans;  Sym- 
machus, his  ability  as  a  rhetorician ;  Eusebius,  his  knowledge 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAGIC  69 

as  au  orator;  Furius  Albinus,  his  familiarity  with  the  older 
Latin  writers,  and  Cecina  Albinus,  his  propriety  in  the  use  of 
words,  while  Servius  descanted  upon  difficult  places  in  the 
poems.  The  discourse  of  Eustathius  upon  Virgil  as  an 
astrologer  and  philosopher,  the  part  of  all  the  rest  most  likely 
to  have  been  valuable  to  modern  scholars,  is  unfortunately  not 
in  existence.  That  it  was  of  a  Neo-Platonic  cast  is  to  be 
inferred  from  a  remark  in  Macrobius's  exposition  of  the  Dream 
of  Scipio,  which  recognizes  in  the  Terque,  quaterque  beati 
of  Virgil  the  Pythagorean  doctrine  of  numbers.  The  orig- 
inal Eustathius,  from  whom  Macrobius  drew  the  character  of 
his  dialogue,  was  notable  for  his  eagerness  in  the  study  of 
marvelous  things.  It  was  he  Avho,  explaining  the  origin 
of  the  palladium  of  Troy,  related  that  it  was  made  and 
endued  with  marvellous  properties  by  a  philosopher  who  lived 
at  Troy  previous  to  the  war  with  the  Greeks,  a  legend  similar 
in  its  make-up  to  some  in  which  the  name  of  Virgil  figured. 


n 


The  tendency  manifested  by  Macrobius  to  discover  every 
sort  of  hidden  wisdom  in  Virgil's  poems  was  characteristic  as 
well  of  subsequent  writers  throughout  a  period  of  several  cen- 
turies. Few  traces  of  the  pagan  allegorical  interpretations 
remain,  but  the  fragmentary  testimony  shows  that  he  was 
considered  not  only  a  poet  but  a  profound  philosopher.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  doubted  that  the  more  salient  features  of  the 
earliest  allegories  were  reflected  in  the  work  of  the  Christian 
Fabius  Planciades  Fulgentius,  who  probably  wrote  before  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century.  The  De  Continentia  Virgiliana 
is  one   of  the  most  remarkable  writings  that  have  survived 


70  MASTER    VIRGIL 

from  the  Latin  mediseval  times ;  and  it  is  also  a  most  valuable 
memorial  of  the  fame  retained  by  Virgil  even  in  an  age  of 
barbarism.  In  his  introduction  Fulgentius  explains  that  he 
restricted  himself  to  the  ^ueid  because  the  shorter  poems 
concealed  mysteries  too  profound  for  him  to  hope  to  penetrate 
them.  He  was  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  first  georgic 
was  devoted  to  astrology,  the  second  to  medicine  and  physiog- 
nomy, the  third  to  augury  and  sacred  science,  the  fourth  to 
music  and  to  the  influence  of  the  stars  on  human  destiny.  In 
the  first,  second  and  third  eclogues  was  given  the  content  of 
the  three  great  divisions  of  human  life  in  the  terms  of  nature, 
while  the  fourth  took  uj)  the  art  of  prophecy.  Leaving  these 
abstruse  matters  for  something  which  he  pretended  to  under- 
stand, he  besought  the  muses  to  grant  him  a  vision  of  the 
spirit  of  Virgil.  They  acceded  to  his  request.  The  spectre 
appeared  sitting  in  an  attitude  of  serious  meditation,  as  if  con- 
templating some  new  poetical  work.  Fulgentius  humbly 
prayed  the  poet  to  descend  from  his  lofty  seat  and  reveal  to 
him  the  mysteries  of  his  poems — not  those  which  were  Liost 
difficult,  but  those  within  the  comprehension  of  a  poor  and 
barbarous  mind.  The  spectre  consented;  not,  however, 
without  a  terrifying  frown.  His  own  greatness  he  emphasized 
by  persistently  addressing  his  interlocutor  as  the  mannikiu 
{homunculns) ,  and  by  his  grandiloquent  manner  of  speaking. 
By  way  of  preface,  the  spirit  remarked  that  the  design  of  the 
^neid,  as  a  whole,  was  to  reflect  the  entire  course  of  human 
life.  Upon  being  asked  to  explain  this  philosophic  purpose 
more  particularly,  he  defined  the  three  important  words  of  the 
first  verse,  arma,  virum  and  prhnus,  as  emblematic  of  the  three 
gradations  existing  in  human  life.  The  first  of  these  was  to 
have ;  the  second,  to  rule  what  is  possessed,  and  the  third,  to 


TEE  BOOK  OF  MAGIC  71 

adorn  that  whicli  is  ruled.  Arma,  that  is,  courage,  referred 
to  the  corporeal  substance  ;  virum,  that  is,  wisdom,  referred  to 
the  intellectual  substance  ;  primus,  that  is,  the  prince,  referred 
to  the  adorning  substance.  Thus  in  the  semblance  of  a  tale 
were  described  the  normal  conditions  of  human  life — first 
nature,  then  learning  and  lastly  happiness. 

With  this  preface  the  spectre  of  Virgil  began  an  exposition 
in  detail  of  each  successive  book  of  the  iEneid.  But  he  gave 
his  listener  no  little  trouble.  He  required  a  jiromise  that  his 
mysteries  should  not  be  exposed  to  dull  and  uncultured  minds. 
As  if  doubtful  whether  Fulgentius  himself  was  not  merely 
pretending  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  ^neid,  he  demanded 
a  recital  of  the  narrative  given  in  the  first  book.  Reassured 
by  the  manner  in  which  his  request  was  complied  with,  the 
shade  explained  that  the  story  of  the  shipwreck  signified  the 
birth  of  man  who  enters  life  with  pain  and  grief  and  crying. 
Juno,  who  caused  the  disaster,  was  the  goddess  of  childbirth, 
and  Eolus,  who  served  her,  symbolized  destruction.  The 
song  of  lopas  was  the  cradle  song  of  the  nurse.  The  incidents 
of  the  second  and  third  books  all  referred  to  infaucy  with  its 
love  of  the  marvellous  and  its  eagerness  to  hear  fabulous  tales. 
A  special  symbol  of  infancy  was  the  cyclops  Avith  the  single 
eye  in  the  middle  of  his  forehead,  signifying  the  immature 
and  changeable  mind  of  the  babe,  overpowered  by  the  wisdom 
of  old  age  typified  in  Ulysses.  The  period  of  infaucy  closed 
with  the  death  and  funeral  of  Father  Anchises  that  is,  with 
the  release  from  parental  control.  In  the  first-  enjoyment  of 
his  freedom  the  youth  seeks  eagerly  after  pleasui'es,  delighting 
especially  in  those  which  are  unlawful,  and  for  this  reason 
Virgil  described  at  length  the  unfortunate  passion  of  Dido. 
From   this   tempest   of    the  mind   youth  was   saved   by  the 


72  MASTER   VIRGIL 

admonitions  of  Mercury,  wlio  typified  intellectual  power. 
The  funeral  pyre  of  Dido  signified  the  destruction  of  youthful 
lust  in  its  own  flame.  At  the  turning  point  of  life  man,  of 
whom  iEneas  was  the  type,  recalled  the  paternal  memory,  and, 
in  the  funeral  games  in  honor  of  Anchises,  gave  himself  to 
noble  exercises.  The  burning  of  the  ships  represented  the 
destruction  of  ali  those  things  which  had  hitherto  caused  the 
mind  to  err.  Having  thus  separated  himself  from  evil  tend- 
encies that  had  caused  him  to  wander,  man  thenceforth  sought 
wisdom,  or,  to  speak  more  poetically  and  more  plainly,  vEneas 
journeyed  to  the  temi:)le  of  Apollo.  After  having  been  freed 
from  hallucination  in  the  death  of  Palinurus,  and  buried  vain 
glory  in  the  person  of  Misenus,  man,  armed  with  the  golden 
branch  of  Avisdom,  Avhich  opened  the  secrets  of  buried  truth, 
began  his  journey  of  philosophic  investigation,  described 
under  the  fiction  of  the  descent  into  Hades.  First  of  all 
were  revealed  to  him  the  ills  of  human  life  in  their  sad  aspects. 
Guided  by  Time,  that  is,  Charon,  he  crossed  the  turbid  and 
agitated  waves  of  juvenile  life;  heard,  in  the  barking  of 
Cerberus,  the  confused  quarrels  of  men  among  themselves, 
and  learned  how  to  obtain  the  sweets  of  wisdom.  Then  he 
proceeded  to  a  knowledge  of  the  future  life,  after  meditating 
upon  the  passions  and  affections  of  his  youth,  or,  as  the  JEneid 
has  it,  contemplated  the  shades  of  Dido  and  Anchises,  and 
learned  the  nature  of  the  rewards  and  punishments  with 
which  good  and  evil  deeds  are  requited.  Made  Avise  by  these 
revelations,  man  was  freed  from  the  rule  of  a  preceptor  in  the 
death  and  funeral  of  the  nurse,  Cajeta,  and  joined  the  beloved 
Ausonia,  or,  in  other  words,  became  one  of  the  good.  He 
chose  as  his  consort  Lavinia,  the  embodiment  of  the  Aveariness 
and  the  disputes  of  age ;  but  took  for  his  counsellor  the  good 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAGIC  73 

man,  Evander,  (Euandros)  in  whose  conversation  he  learned 
of  the  victory  of  good  over  evil,  that  is,  of  Hercules  over 
Cacus.  Obtaining  suitable  armor  for  his  ardent  soul  from 
Vulcan,  he  undertook  the  struggle  against  madness,  who, 
guided  first  by  drunkenness  (typified  by  Metiscus)  and  after- 
wards by  obstinacy  (whose  poetical  name  was  Juturna, 
equivalent  in  derivation  to  Diuturna),  was  accompanied  and 
aided  by  impiety  (for  which  Mezentius  was  but  another  name) 
and  unreason  (in  the  person  of  Messapus.)  Wisdom  finally 
conquered,  as  allegorically  shown  in  the  victory  of  the  Trojans 
over  the  Latins. 

The  tendency  to  describe  the  course  of  human  life,  and  the 
contests  between  good  and  evil,  between  virtue  and  vice,  by 
an  allegory,  was  one  that  ran  parallel  to  the  popular  taste.  It 
was  as  agreeable  to  the  readers  of  Prudentius's  Psychomachia, 
and  Aldhelih's  De  Octo  Principalibus  Vitiis  as  to  those  who  have 
delighted  in  the  poem  of  Spenser  or  the  unrivalled  narrative 
of  Bunyan.  Naturally,  the  Virgilian  allegory  of  Fulgentius 
retained  the  attention  of  many  generations  of  readers.  The 
strained  interpretation  was  well  suited  to  the  loquacious 
minuteness  of  scholasticism.  It  is  an  important  fact  in  the 
consideration  of  the  Virgilian  legends  that  the  disposition  to 
convert  the  ^neid  into  an  allegory  recurred  at  the  same 
mediaeval  epoch  in  which  the  legends  came  to  the  surface  in 
literature,  and  when,  also,  the  romantic  spirit  had  transmuted 
the  Roman  epic  into  a  legendary  tale.  If  Fulgentius's  work 
were  alone  sufiicient  for  a  generalization,  it  could  be  shown 
that  in  the  sixth  century,  Virgil,  both  as  to  his  works  and  his 
appearance,  had  taken  on  much  of  the  quality  which  is 
characterized  by  the  term  legendary.  The  very  same  spirit 
which  actuated  Neckam  in  relating  the  miraculous  tales  which 


74  MASTER   VI BOIL 

he  had  heard  concerning  Virgil,  led  John  of  Salisbury  to 
construct  his  theory  upon  the  philosophic  purpose  of  the 
^neid.  In  contrast  with  Fulgentius  he  limited  the  allegory 
of  human  life  to  the  first  six  books  of  the  poem.  The  name 
-^neas  according  to  his  notions  of  etymology  was  nothing  but 
a  symbolic  word  to  describe  the  human  soul ;  and  he  coined 
the  Greek  term  ennaios,  indweller,  to  support  this  definition. 
With  this  beginning  he  was  able  to  show  to  his  own  satisfaction 
that  the  first  book  of  the  poem  related  to  the  perils  and 
vicissitudes  of  infancy ;  that  the  second  described  the  growth 
and  ingenuous  curiosity  of  childhood,  equally  eager  to  see 
and  to  hear  all  things,  whether  true  or  false;  the  third, 
boyhood  with  its  errors;  the  fourth,  youth  and  the  illicit 
pleasures  in  which  it  delights;  the  fifth,  virile  maturity  and 
the  approach  of  age,  and  finally  the  sixth  j:)ictured  old  age 
with  the  loss  of  vitality,  the  cooling  of  the  passions  and  the 
advance  of  decrepitude.  Bernard  of  Chartres  in  his  com- 
mentary on  Virgil  enforced  a  similar  idea.  There  were  not 
wanting  those  who  conceived  the  three  styles  of  Virgil,  the 
bucolic,  the  georgic  and  the  epic,  to  be  typical  of  the 
three  psychological  categories  of  human  life:  the  eclogues, 
symbolizing  the  contemplative  life;  the  georgics,  the 
sensuous;  and  the  jEneid,  the  life  of  activity.  Virgil 
was  but  one  among  those  whose  works  suflfered  from 
these  imputed  meanings.  Not  a  book,  not  an  historical 
narration,  nor  a  tale  of  fiction,  but  was  thought  capa- 
ble of  philosophic  or  moral  explanation.  The  doctrine 
was  commonly  taught  that  all  literature  had  four  mean- 
ings— the  literal,  the  allegorical,  the  moral,  and  the 
analogical.  Men's  minds  were  preocupied  with  a  category  of 
ideas,  the  images  of  which  they  sought  in  everything.     Even 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAG  10  75 

Dante  was  not  superior  to  his  times  in  this  respect.*  In  the 
Convito  he  calls  to  mind  "the  allegory  of  the  ages  of  man 
which  Virgil  imagined  in  the  JEueid  "  ;  and  afterward,  in  the 
same  book,  explains  the  figurative  sense  of  the  ^Eneid  in  a 
manner  little  different  from  that  of  Salisbury. 


Ill 


Out  of  this  aj)otheosis  of  Virgil  and  his  works  the  more 
ignorant  romancers  and  trouveres  could  gain  but  one  idea. 
The  -^neid,  as  they  knew  it  in  the  versions  of  poets  only  less 
ignorant  than  themselves,  would  not  tally  in  any  respect  with 
the  schemes  of  the  philosophers.  But  Virgil  must  have 
written  a  book  to  warrant  the  fame  accorded  him  as  a  man 
of  superhuman  wisdom  and  infinite  knowledge.  From  that 
point  the  development  of  a  legend  relating  to  a  book  of  magic 
or  necromancy,   alleged  to  have   been   composed  by  Virgil, 

"•■■'Witness  his  extraordinary  comment  on  a  passage  in  Lucan's 
Pharsalia;  (see  The  Banquet  of  Dante  Alighieri,  translated  by  Elizabeth 
Price  Sayer,  Fourth  Treatise,  chap,  xxviii.):  "And  that  these  two  things 
are  suitable  to  this  [old]  age,  that  great  poet  Lucan  represents  to  us  in 
the  second  book  of  his  Pharsalia,  when  he  says  that  Marcia  returned 
to  Cato  and  entreated  him  that  he  would  take  her  back  in  his  fourth 
and  extreme  old  age,  by  which  Marcia,  the  Noble  Soul,  is  meant,  and 
we  can  thus  depict  the  symbol  of  it  in  all  truth  ;  Marcia  was  a  virgin, 
and  in  that  state  typified  Adolescence ;  she  then  espoused  Cato,  and 
in  that  state  typified  Youth  ;  she  then  bore  sons,  by  whom  are  typified 
the  Virtues  which  are  becoming  to  young  men;  and  she  departed  from 
Cato  and  espoused  Hortensius,  by  which  it  is  typified  that  she  quitted 
Yputh  and  came  to  Old  Age.  She  bore  sons  to  this  man  also,  by  whom 
are  typified  the  Virtues  which  befit  Old  Age.  Hortensius  died,  by 
which  is  typified  the  end  of  Old  Age,  and  Marcia  made  a  widow,  by 
which  widowhood  is  typified  Extreme  Old  Age  returned  in  the  early 
days  of  her  widowhood  to  Cato,  wherby  is  typified  the  Noble  Soul 
turning  to  God  in  the  beginning  of  Extreme  Old  Age." 


76  MASTER   VIRGIL 

would  be  as  obvious  and  easy  as  any  detail  of  fiction  could  be. 
Returning  to  the  Dolopathos  we  find  that  VirgU.  is  represented 
as  having  written  a  little  work  embodying  the  substance  of  all 
the  books  of  philosophy  for  the  use  of  his  pupil  Lucimien.  It 
was  a  volume  so  small  that  it  could  easily  be  carried  in  the 
hand,  yet  it  contained  all  the  principles  of  the  seven  arts,  but 
especially  those  of  Estronomie,  by  which  Herbers  means 
nothing  less  than  the  astrology  which  was  attributed  to  VirgU 
by  Macrobius  and  Fulgentius,  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
change  which  the  pretended  science  of  divination  by  the  stars 
had  undergone  during  the  intervening  centuries.  That  the 
science  of  astronomy  as  described  in  this  romance  was  merely 
divination  is  shown  by  the  use  which  Lucimien  made  of  the  book. 
After  he  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  art,  he  took  advantage  of 
the  absence  of  Virgil  one  evening  to  try  his  learning.  He 
discovered  that  his  mother,  the  wife  of  Dolopathos,  was  dead, 
and  that  the  old  king  had  married  again.  He  foresaw  also  by 
the  aid  of  the  stars  that  he  would  soon  be  summoned  home. 
On  another  occasion,  by  watching  the  course  of  the  stars  in 
accordance  with  Virgil's  instructions,  he  had  been  enabled  to 
foresee  the  plot  of  some  envious  persons  to  poison  the  master. 
It  is  by  the  principles  of  the  same  art,  called  in  another  place 
se&rez  de  divinite,  that  Virgil  discovers  the  peril  which  his 
pupil  will  encounter  upon  his  return  to  his  father's  court,  and 
is  led  to  enforce  upon  him  an  oath  to  keep  inviolable  silence 
until  they  shall  see  each  other  again,  thus  bringing  the  story 
to  a  point  of  similarity  with  the  ordinary  versions  of  the  Seven 
Wise  Men.  The  fate  of  Virgil's  book  is  a  notable  incident  in 
the  romance.  After  Lucimien  has  passed  through  the  dan- 
gerous adventure  Avith  his  young  and  beautiful  stepmother — a 
sufficiently  pointed  reminder  of  the  disagreement  between 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAGIC  77 

Joseph  and  Potiphar's  wife ;  after  the  sages  have  succcessively 
related  the  tales  with  which  the  action  of  the  story  is  delayed ; 
after  the  life  of  Luciraien  has  been  saved  and  his  stepmother 
has  been  burned,  throughthe  timely  arrival  of  Virgil;  and,  after 
his  coronation  as  King  of  Sicily,  an  account  is  given  of  the  death 
of  the  master.  When  Virgil's  last  moments  came  he  clasped 
the  book  of  nigromance — of  which,  remarks  the  poet,  he  knew 
the  whole  science — so  tightly  in  his  hand  that  it  could  not  be 
released.  That  this  supposititious  work  of  VirgU  should  have 
become  a  work  on  necromancy  in  the  conclusion  of  Herbers's 
poem,  when  it  had  been  in  the  first  place  merely  a  compendium 
of  the  seven  arts,  is  a  significant  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
Virgilian  myth,  since  it  indicates  that  only  a  few  years  were 
required  for  the  development  of  the  superstition. 

Some  light  is  thrown  upon  the  growth  of  this  legend  by  two 
curious  fragments  of  history  contemporaneous  with  the 
production  of  the  Dolopathos.  John  of  Salisbury  in  his 
Polycraticus,  dedicated  to  Thomas  a  Becket,  about  1170, 
apparently  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  mentions  the  exploits  of  a 
person,  whom  he  calls  a  Stoic,  who  had  long  busied  himself  at 
Naples,  in  the  effort  to  secure  the  relics  of  Virgil  from  the 
sepulchre  in  which  they  reposed.  In  the  useless  enterprise  of 
obtaining  the  bones  of  the  poet,  rather  than  his  wisdom,  to 
carry  with  him  back  to  Gaul,  this  lunatic  had  passed  many 
sleepless  nights,  had  endured  hunger  and  expended  his  strength 
in  the  most  wearisome  bodily  toil.  In  all  this  there  was  not  a 
hint  of  occult  science,  Salisbury's  phrase  being  ossa  quam 
sensum,  not  artem,  nor  magicam,  nor  mathematieavi.  A 
genei-ation  later  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  apparently  unaware  of 
Salisbury's  anecdote,  found  a  tradition  that  when  Roger 
reigned  in  Sicily  a  learned  Englishman   presented  himself  at 


78  MASTER    VIRGIL 

court,  beseeching  the  royal  favor.  The  king  promised  to 
grant  any  reasonable  request,  supposing  that  he  had  merely  to 
deal  with  a  needy  scholar.  A  learned  man  he  certainly  was, 
remarks  Gervase,  because  he  showed  himself  thoroughly  expert 
in  all  the  mysteries  of  the  trivium  and  quadrivium,  and  deeply 
read  in  natural  science  and  astronomy.  His  answer  to  the 
king  was  that  he  asked  no  ephemeral  gifts,  but  desired  what 
would  seem  to  other  men  a  very  small  matter,  the  privilege  of 
taking  possession  of  Virgil's  remains,  providing  he  could  find 
them  within  the  boundaries  of  Roger's  kingdom.  To  this 
eccentric  request  the  king  consented,  and  the  learned  traveller, 
carrying  a  letter  subscribed  with  the  royal  sign  manual, 
hastened  to  Naples,  a  city  where  Vii'gil  had  left  many  proofs 
of  his  extraordinary  knowledge.  When  the  letter  was 
presented  to  the  Neapolitans,  they,  in  ignorance  of  the  locality 
where  Virgil  was  buried,  easily  agreed  to  obey  a  command, 
which,  as  they  thought,  would  have  a  totally  nugatory  result. 
The  stranger  labored  long,  just  as  Salisbury  said  his  Stoic  did; 
but  finally,  guided  by  his  art,  discovered  the  tomb  he  sought, 
in  the  very  centre  of  a  mountain  which  was  solid  on  all  sides, 
unbroken  even  by  the  smallest  fissure.  An  excavation  was 
made  and  with  wearisome  toil,  the  sepulchre  Avas  reached. 
The  body  of  Virgil  was  found  entire,  but  it  crumbled  to  dust 
immediately.  Under  the,  head  of  the  corpse  was  a  book  on 
the  subject  of  the  ars  notoria  with  the  explanation  necessary 
for  mastering  the  science.  These  were  all  carried  away,  the 
bones,  the  dust  and  the  mysterious  volume.  But  the 
Neapolitans  recalling  to  mind  the  affection  which  Virgil  had 
cherished  toward  their  city,  and  fearing  that  their  own  folly 
would  bring  upon  the  city  some  terrible  calamity,  decided  to 
revoke  their  former  action  and  to  disobey  the  commands  of  the 


THE  BOOK  0 F  MA  G I C  79 

king.  Fur,  they  reasoned,  if  Virgil's  bones  had  not  been  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  the  city,  he  would  not  at  his  death 
have  taken  such  pains  to  conceal  his  sepulchre.  The  Duke  of 
the  Neapolitans,  with  the  aid  of  a  great  concourse  of  citizens, 
recovered  the  bones  by  force,  and,  placing  them  in  a  sack, 
carried  them  into  the  castle  of  the  sea,  where  afterward  those 
who  wished  to  see  them  were  shown  certain  jointed  pieces  of  iron. 
The  Englishman,  upon  being  interrogated  as  to  his  purpose  in 
obtaining  these  relics,  replied  that  he  hoped  by  a  pi'ocess  of 
conjuring  to  obtain  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  Virgil, 
and  added  that  he  was  satisfied  to  have  had  the  bones  under  his 
care  for  a  single  day.  In  the  struggle  for  the  possession 
of  the  book  the  stranger  was  deprived  of  a  portion  of  it.  This 
recaptured  fragment  was  religiously  preserved  at  Naples,  and 
Gervase  had  the  effrontery  to  annex  to  his  narrative  the  state- 
'ment  that  th,e  mutilated  leaves  were  perused  by  him,  through  the 
kindness  of  his  friend,  Cardinal  Joannes,  and  subjected  to  the 
proper  tests  with  the  most  conclusive  success.  The  phrase  ars 
■notoria  which  Gervase  used  is  one  of  those  delicate  circumlocu- 
tions by  which  he  and  other  scientific  men  of  his  times 
described  processes  allied  to  magic. 


IV 


With  the  French  romancers  generally  the  book  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  compact  and  brief  exposition  of  the 
seven  arts.  The  author  uf  U Image  du  Monde,  a  poem  written 
about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  evidently  obtained 
his  notions  respecting  it  directly  from  the  Dolopathos,  for  he 
remarked  that  it  was  written  by  Virgil  for  the  use  of  one  of 
his  pupils,  the  son  of  a  king  of  Sicily.     According  to  him,  a 


80  MASTER   VIRGIL 

diligent  student  by  means  of  this  abstract  could  master  all  the 
arts  in  the  space  of  three  years.  Among  the  Germans,  who 
lacked  that  traditional  respect  for  Virgil's  name  which  was 
cherished  by  the  Latin  races,  and  who,  moreover,  as  has  been 
noted  in  the  case  of  Conrad  of  Querfurt,  felt  no  hesitation  in 
calling  the  forbidden  arts  by  their  right  names,  the  book 
became  at  once  a  repertory  of  diabolical  wisdom,  degenerating 
at  last  into  a  mere  receptacle  for  the  magician's  familiar  spirits. 
In  the  Wartburgkrieg  it  was  said  to  have  been,  not  Virgil's 
own  composition,  but  a  work  stolen  from  the  cell  of  the 
ancient  magician  Zabulon.  Von  Muglin,  in  his  Weltbuch,  a 
versified  history  of  the  world,  written  at  Vienna,  about  1350, 
to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  had  Virgil  find  it 
under  a  corpse.  The  Italians,  who  were  slow  to  accept  the 
tale  in  any  form,  gave  no  indication  that  they  were  acquainted 
with  it  until  Bartolomeo  Caracciolo  compiled  his  Cronica  di 
Partetiope,  a  legendary  history  of  Naples,  late  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  This  author  repeated  the  story  given  by  Gervase, 
and  then  added  the  explanation  that  the  book  was  not  Virgil's 
own,  but  had  been  found  by  him  in  a  cavern  beneath  Monte 
Barbaro,  near  Naples.  Virgil,  in  company  with  one  Philo- 
melus,  made  a  search  for  the  sepulchre  of  Chiron,  and,  upon 
finding  it,  obtained  the  manuscript.  The  Chiron,  w'ith  whose 
name  that  of  Virgil  is  thus  connected,  was  probably  meant  for 
the  centaur  of  that  name,  who  figured  in  the  mythic  period  of 
the  history  of  medicine.  A  book  attributed  to  him  under  the 
title  of  the  Herbarium  of  Apuleius,  the  Platonist,  translated  from  the 
original  Greek  of  Chiron,  the  Centaur,  was  widely  known  in  the 
middle  ages.  Philomelus  is,  perhaps,  to  be  identified  with  the 
ancient  physician  Philomenus,  who  gave  his  name  to  some 
useless  remedies  of  a  magical  character ;  the  appellation  sounds, 


THE  BOOK  OF  31 A  GIC  81 

however,  suspiciously  like  an  allegorical  allusion  to  \'irgirs 
poetical  gifts.  It  is  probable  that  this  story,  which  Caracciolo 
claimed  to  have  found  in  an  ancient  chronicle,  was  a  pure 
invention  in  behalf  of  some  empirical  ti'eatise,  written  by  a 
precursor  of  such  quacks  as  Cardan  and  Paracelsus,  in  which 
advantage  was  taken  of  the  popular  Neapolitan  belief  that 
Monte  Barbaro  contained  all  sorts  of  treasures  and  miraculous 
things.  Conrad  of  Querfurt  mentioned  this  popular  opinion 
as  common  when  he  was  at  Naples  early  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  The  title  of  the  book  which  Virgil  thus  obtained  was 
De  Necromancia,  but  Caracciolo,  true  to  the  classical  traditions 
of  his  country,  accepted  this  phrase  as  meaning  only  the 
knowledge  of  planetary  influence  upon  human  affairs. 


V 


As  in  the  case  of  Paracelsus  and  others,  the  superstition  as 
to  Virgil's  knowledge  and  as  to  the  book  in  which  he  had 
recorded  it  led  finally  to  the  composition  of  a  book  of  magic  in 
his  name.  It  was  entitled  Virgilii  Cordubensis  Philosophia. 
While  it  contained  no  allusion  to  the  common'  legends  concern- 
ing Virgil,  it  was  closely  linked  to  them  by  the  spirit  which 
animated  its  anonymous  author,  who,  appropriating  the  name 
of  Virgil,  pretended  that  he  was  an  Arabian  philosopher,  and 
that  his  works  were  originally  composed  in  the  Arabic 
language.  These  had  been  translated  into  Latin  at  Cordova, 
in  1290.  Certainly  the  author  could  not  have  been  an 
Arabian,  nor  could  he  have  been  acquainted  to  any  extent 
with  Moorish  learning,  otherwise  he  would  never  have  given 
the  name  of  Virgil  to  a  man  of  that  race.  In  fact,  he  could 
not  have  possessed  any  learning  worthy  of  the  name,  for  he 


82  MASTER   VIRGIL 

made  Virgil  a  contemporary  at  Cordova  of  such  widely 
separated  names  as  Seneca,  Avicenna,  Averrhoes,  and  Alguazil. 
He  was  manifestly  an  ignorant  pretender,  who  aimed  to  give 
his  book  authority  by  connecting  it  with  a  name  of  legendary 
importance  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  with  the  specious 
reputation  of  the  Moors  in  science.  By  Avay  of  introducing 
his  work,  the  author  related  how  all  the  studious  men  who 
sought  Toledo  as  the  centre  of  instruction  saw  the  necessity 
of  obtaining  his  services  as  a  teacher,  as  soon  as  they  heard  of 
his  intimate  acquaintance  with  every  secret  and  abstruse  avenue 
of  learning.  His  exceptional  knowledge  had  been  obtained  by 
means  of  that  universal  science  which  others  called  necromancy, 
but  to  which  he  preferred  to  give  the  name  of  Rejidgentia. 
They  sent  a  humble  request  that  he  would  come  to  Toledo  as 
a  lecturer,  but  he  refused,  because  of  a  reluctance  to  quit  his 
native  city  of  Cordova.  Thereupon,  they  took  him  by  force 
and  placed  him  in  the  chair  of  magic,  or  all-science,  at  their 
university,  a  pi'ofessorship  not  unknown  during  the  middle 
ages  in  the  schools  of  Spain.  From  this  preface  it  is  obvious 
that  in  general  literary  history  the  book  should  be  classed  with 
that  j)estilent  succession  of  works  supposed  to  contain  the 
Avhole  substance  of  what  is  knowable,  the  golden  keys,  royal 
methods,  Parnassian  graduses,  the  macro-micro-cosmical  oceans 
that  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  for  example, 
disgraced  the  name  of  learning. 

The  introduction  was  folloAved  by  grave  discussions  upon 
the  subjects  of  the  First  Cause,  the  human  mind,  the  universe, 
enlightened  by  the  important  communications  which  Professor 
Virgil  made  to  his  audience  of  philosophers  upon  the  authority 
of  the  spirits  whom  he  had  consulted.  He  explained  the  nature 
of  these  spirits  and  elucidated  the  principles  of  the  ars  notoria 


THE  BOOK  OF  MAGIC  83 

which,  according  to  him,  was  a  holy  and  perfect  science,  tliose 
only  who  understood  it  being  without  sin.  The  authors  of 
this  science  were  the  good  angels  who  communicated  it  to 
King  Solomon.  They  enclosed  all  the  spirits  in  a  bottle  save 
one,  a  lame  devil,  who  escaped  and  subsequently  released  all 
his  companions.  When  Alexander  visited  Jerusalem,  he  was 
accompanied  by  his  master,  Aristotle,  who  was  then  a  person 
of  very  rough,  uncouth  manners.  But  he  happened  to  dis- 
cover the  place  where  the  books  were  concealed  which  Solomon 
wrote.  He  obtained  them,  and  by  study  became  the  great 
man  revered  in  later  ages.  Those  who  have  read  the  book 
say  that  it  is  full  of  grammatical  blunders.  Its  philosophy  is 
a  medley  in  which  are  to  be  recognized  fragments  of  Judaism 
and  rabbinism,  mingled  with  Christian  doctrines,  one  of  which 
is  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity.  Of  Virgil  there  is  properly 
nothing  bu+-  the  name.  The  reason  for  the  forgery  is  plainly 
the  tradition  endowing  Virgil  with  a  superhuman  wisdom, 
exactly  as  the  gradual  corruption  of  grammatical  study  led  to 
the  composition  of  a  text  book  in  his  name  upon  that  science. 


FIFTH-  VIRGIL,   THE  MAX  OF  SCIFJTCE 


Educated  people  at  Mantua  must  have  recognized  Virgil's 
genius  while  he  was  yet  a  young  suburban  resident  at  Andes, 
otherwise  it  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  efforts  of  Pollio 
and  Gallus  in  his  behalf.  But  to  the  neighboring  peasantry 
his  studious  habits  and  his  retirement  must  have  seemed  the 
mark  of  an  indolent,  shiftless  nature.  When  the  confiscations 
were  in  progress  and  all  the  people  of  the  district  were  evicted 
with  the  alternative  of  starvation  or  exile,  the  youthful  poet 
came  near  losing  his  life  at  the  hands  of  the  veteran  who  had 
seized  his  farm.  It  must  have  seemed  extraordinary  to  his 
poor  compatriots  that  these  cruelties  inflicted  by  the  soldiers  of 
the  victor  at  Philippi  should  have  been  followed  almost 
immediately  in  Virgil's  case  by  extraordinary  favors  from 
Octavian's  own  hand.  To  their  rude  minds  the  real  cause 
of  Virgil's  advancement  would  not  easily  have  suggested  itself, 
save  in  connection  with  something  which  gave  it  an  air  of 
utility.  Now,  one  of  the  circumstances  which  conferred  a 
superstitious  value  upon  poetry  among  the  ancients  was  its 
supposed  relation  to  medicine.     Songs  and  chants  that  would 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  85 

now  be  considered  mere  futile  magical  triflings  were  once  a 
legitimate  element  in  the  curative  art.     The  particulars  of  this 
ancient  practice  which  was  supported  even  by  the  authority  of 
Galen,  and   was  applied  in  such  widely  divergent  forms  of 
disease    as    epilepsy   and    sciatica,    madness   and   pestilential 
contagions,  are  so  well  known  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  recite 
them  in  this  place.     It  is,  however,  quite  probable  that  this 
superstition,  having  its  cause  in  the  actual  theories  of  medical 
science,  was  in  its  turn  the  main  reason  for  attributing  the 
character  of  a  physician  to  many  an  ancient  poet,  as  in  the 
case  of  Orpheus,  Musseus,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Aratus,  Eudemus, 
Alcseus,     Ptolemseus,      Cytherius,      Democrates,      Nicander, 
.iEmilius   Macer,    Silius    Italicus,    Petronius   and    Ausonius. 
That     proficiency    in     medicine    was    attributed     to   Virgil 
by   tradition    is  well   known.      As    in    the    case    of  Homer 
— and,    in-  modern    times,    of    Shakespeare — Virgil's   works 
were    ransacked    by    the    devotees   of  every  special   science 
in    search    of    quotations    which    were     adduced    to    prove 
that    in    each,    as    in    all,    he    had    been    an    adept.     The 
selections     which     were     supposed     to     indicate     that     he 
had  a  professional  knowledge  of   medicine  would,   of  them- 
selves, make  a  respectable  pamphlet.     The  third  georgic  was 
cited  particularly  on  account  of  the  graphic  account  it  gave  of 
diseases  proper  to  the  domestic  animals  and  to  the  methods  by 
which  they  were  cured ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  Virgil 
displayed     a     knowledge     that     could     only      have      been 
attained    by     careful    observation    and     much     experience. 
The  commentary  attributed  to  Servius,  either  by  the  original 
work  of  that  author,  or  by  the  emendations  of  his  mediaeval 
successors,  was  copious  in  its  allusions  to  Virgil's  knowledge  of 
medicine.     To  this  tradition  respecting  the  poet  the  greater 


86  MASTER    VI B GIL 

number  of  anecdotes  told  of  him  in  his  legendary  aspect  are 
directly  related. 


n 


Aulus  Gellius,  who  wrote  in  the  second  century,  mentioned, 
among  the  other  criticisms  which  he  had  to  make  upon  the 
text  of  Virgil,  that  the  line  which  now  reads,  Ora  jugo,  et 
vacuis  Clanius  non  cequus  Acerris,  formerly  began  with  Nola, 
the  name  of  an  ancient  city  in  the  Campagna,  beyond 
Vesuvius,  from  Naples.  This  statement  was  made  on  the 
authority  of  a  commentator  belonging  to  the  first  century. 
Virgil  was  said  to  have  made  the  change  in  his  verse  because 
of  the  lack  of  courtesy  which  the  inhabitants  of  Nola 
manifested  to  him  in  refusing  a  privilege  which  he  had  asked 
as  the  owner  of  an  estate  in  the  neighborhood.  The  fact  that 
Virgil  once  had  a  place  near  Nola  and  the  village  of  Avella 
was  commemorated  by  the  peoj^le  who  gave  to  the  hill  now 
known  as  Monte  Vergine  the  name  of  Mons  Virgilii,  the 
locality  of  which  corresponds  exactly  to  the  allusion  of 
Gellius.  In  Latin  writings  of  both  mediaeval  and  modern 
times,  the  hill  is  described  under  the  various  names  of  Mons 
Virginmn,  Mons  Virginis,  Mons  Virgilianus.  Of  these,  the 
last  given  was  at  first  universal,  as  is  shown  by  documents  of 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  Pope  Celestinus  in  a 
bull  issued  in  11$)7,  relative  to  the  monastery  there,  spoke 
of  it  as  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Virgin  Maiy,  on  the 
Mount  of  Virgil.  In  the  biography  of  St.  William  of 
Vercelli,  the  founder  of  the  monastery,  its  site  is  described  by 
the  same  name  exclusive  of  all  the  others.  Tradition  and 
usage  thus  connect  with  events  of  the  poet's  life  a  legend 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  87 

which  Neckam  alluded  to  when  he  spoke  of  the  garden  of 
Virgil  surrounded  by  an  immovable  and  impenetrable 
atmosphere.  There  are  some  circumstances  belonging  to 
history  which  indicate  that  it  was  a  very  easy  corruption  of 
speech  for  the  Neapolitans  to  say  Virginius,  Virginis  or 
Virgin um  for  Virgilius.  According  to  the  biography  which 
is  known  under  the  name  of  Donatus,  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  the  city  translated  the  name  of  the  poet  by  the  Greek 
colloquialism  Parihenias,  thus  showing  that  they  quite  mistook 
its  meaning,  or  else  that  the  letters  1  and  u  in  certain  com- 
binations were  not  readily  distinguished  by  them.  A  defect  in 
this  respect  is  not  so  uncommon  with  individualsthat  it  might  not 
characterize  a  whole  population.  Another  example  of  the 
same  confusion  occurred  at  a  much  later  date.  Seneca,  in  the 
sixth  book  of  his  Problems  of  Nature,  at  the  beginning,  spoke 
of  an  earthquake,  which,  in  the  consulate  of  Regulus  and 
Virginius,  desolated  the  Campagua.  Of  all  the  cities  of  the 
region  Naples  only  escaped.  In  this  passage  the  name 
Virginius  was  read  as  equivalent  to  Virgilius  and  thus  the 
opinion  was  deduced  that  Virgil  was  consul  not  of  the  Roman 
commonwealth,  but  in  Naples  at  the  time  of  the  great 
earthquake.  In  the  collection  of  mediaeval  legends  concerning 
the  monastery  of  Monte  Vergine  written  by  the  Abbot 
Giordano,  in  1649,  it  is  stated  that  Virgil,  upon  taking  up  his 
residence  at  Naples,  was  appointed  consul  with  Regulus  as  his 
colleague,  and  Seneca's  historical  paragraph  is  cited  as  proof. 
To  the  romancers  and  legend  makers  of  Western  Europe  the 
name  Mt.  Virgil  suggested  the  outline  of  their  invention,  to 
the  perfecting  of  which  more  than  one  man  contributed. 
Helinand,  the  son  of  a  Flemish  nobleman,  after  wandering  as  a 
trouvere,  became  a  monk  and  wrote  a  chronicle  stuffed  Avith 


88  MASTEE   VIE  GIL 

fables  and  prodigies.  He  described,  among  other  things,  the 
V^irgilian  garden,  adding  to  the  particulars  which  Neckam  had 
mentioned  that  no  rain  fell  within  the  charmed  precincts. 
Gervase  of  Tilbury  followed  with  his  Otia  Imperialia,  dedicated 
to  his  sovereign,  Otto  lY.  Gervase  was  the  chancellor  to  this 
emperor,  and  had  travelled  much  in  Italy.  According  to  him 
Virgil's  garden  lay  on  the  slope  of  Mon-s  Virginum.  It  was 
planted  with  many  kinds  of  herbs,  among  the  rest  one  called 
the  herb  of  Lucius,  which  restored  blind  sheep  to  sight.  In 
the  Image  du  Monde  the  garden  is  mentioned  as  having  no 
protection  save  the  wall  of  air.  Caracciolo,  going  back  to 
the  story  of  Gervase,  amplified  it  in  accordance  with  the 
tradition  of  Virgil's  medical  acquirements.  The  garden  was 
placed  by  him  near  Avella  and  Merchiolana,  and  was  supplied 
with  medicinal  plants  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  besides 
some  which  grew  in  no  other  place  except  where  Virgil  had 
planted  them.  Virgil  prepared  this  garden  because  of  his 
anxiety  to  provide  in  every  way  against  the  evils  and  infirm- 
ities to  which  humanity  was  subject. 

The  same  tradition  was  the  probable  source  of  the  elaborate 
legend  respecting  the  origin  of  the  medicinal  baths  at  Baise 
and  Pozzuoli,  which,  in  its  simplest  form,  was  recorded  by 
Helinand,  Conrad  of  Querfurt  and  Gervase.  Conrad  ostensi- 
bly drew  his  knowledge  that  these  baths  were  due  to  Virgil's 
skill  from  some  earlier  authors,  whom  he  alludes  to  but  does 
not  name;  but  Gervase,  writing  as  though  from  his  own 
knowledge,  describes  the  springs  at  Pozzuoli  as  having  been 
created  by  ^'irgil  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  and  for  a 
perpetual  wonder.  Over  each  fountain  Virgil  placed  an 
inscription  giving  the  names  of  the  diseases  to  the  cure  of  which 
it  "was  adapted.     But  in  more  recent  times,  after  the  rise  of 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  89 

the  medical  school  at  Salerno,  the  physicians  became  jealous 
of  the  posthumous  practice  of  Virgil  which  decreased  their 
emoluments,  and  surreptitiously  defaced  the  inscriptions.  This 
story  as  given  by  Gervase  was  repeated  in  the  Roman  de 
Cleomades,  a  French  poem  written  by  Adenez  Li  Rois  toward 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century — so  that  it  was  then 
popularly  known  throughout  Europe — and  later  in  the  Cronica 
di  Partenope,  where  the  opportunity  was  seized  to  deliver  a 
sharp  invective  against  the  inhumanity  and  wickedness  of  the 
Salernian  doctors.  The  inscriptions  and  the  pictures  accom- 
panying them,  wrote  Caracciolo,  were  all  destroyed  by  these 
uncharitable  physicians,  who  crossed  the  bay  of  Xaples  at  night 
to  carry  out  theii'  nefarious  plans.  But  divine  Providence, 
while  it  did  not  interfere  with  their  stratagems,  punished  them 
on  their  return  by  wrecking  their  boat  in  a  tempest,  leaving 
but  one  of  their  number  alive  to  tell  the  tale. 

Ill 

To  be  a  proficient  in  medicine  in  the  middle  ages  was  to  be 
suspected  of  an  acquaintance  with  all  the  natural  sciences,  and 
to  suffer  from  the  superstitious  regard  in  which  these  were 
held.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  that  Vincent  of  Beauvais — 
who  in  his  Mirror  of  History  reproduced  the  legends  concern- 
ing Virgil,  which  Helinand  had  collated  or  invented — in  his 
Mirror  of  Nature  should  have  presented  his  readers  with  some 
legendary  information  such  as  no  other  author  had  thought  of. 
When  he  came  to  the  subject  of  alchemy  in  the  eighty-seventh 
chapter  of  the  eighth  book,*  he  introduced  into  it  a  list  of  the 

■"•'"This  is  the  only  passage  found  by  the  author  of  these  essays  that 
had  a  bearing  on  the  legendary  history  of  Virgil,  and  yet  had  escaped 
the  scrutiny  of  Comparetti. 


90  MASTEE   VIRGIL 

ancieni  masters  who  had  practiced  the  art.  The  name  of 
Virgil  is  associated  with  the  names  of  Adam,  Xoah,Korah,  Moses, 
Aristotle,  Alexander,  Geber,  Ahimazar  and  John  the  Evan- 
gelist. The  tendency  to  invest  Virgil  with  the  attribute 
of  omniscience  was  the  same  shown  in  Macrobius,  but  it  was 
modified  by  new  views  as  to  the  nature  of  things.  The 
Platonic  idealism  had  given  wav  to  a  gross,  unformed  mate- 
rialism  confused  and  stupefied  by  the  multitude  of  its  own 
discoveries,  unable  to  reduce  them  to  any  system,  and  incapable 
of  generalizing  upon  them.  To  scholars  of  this  new  order 
the  leader  of  Roman  literature  appeared  as  the  Master  of 
Sciences,  the  ideal  of  learning,  and,  therefore,  the  human  sym- 
bol of  superhuman  mystery  and  power.  If  we  would  see  him  as 
they  saw  him,  we  must  picture  him  in  his  cell,  hewn  out  of  the 
solid  rock  in  a  single  night  protected  by  his  wisdom  against 
insidious  treachery  as  well  as  open  enmity ;  with  his  lamp  and 
his  crucible  beside  him,  the  materials  of  his  investigation  and 
experiment  scattered  about  him,  and  the  manuscripts  which 
guided  his  researches  open  under  his  eye.  We  shall  then  have 
the  highest  conception  possible  in  the  thirteenth  century  of 
the  scholar,  whether  he  were  poet  or  teacher,  philosopher  or 
scientist;  and,  therefore,  the  most  appropriate  conception  of 
an  eminent  genius.  The  classical  period  seemed  to  these 
medieval  writers  a  period  when  learning  flourished,  and  when 
even  the  fables  of  mvthology  had  been  realized  in  the  actual 
experience  of  mankind.  This  impression  converted  every 
country  that  had  a  share  in  the  classic  life  into  a  land  of 
enchantment.  Travellers  from  England  and  Germany,  like 
Gervase  of  Tilbury  and  Conrad  of  Querfurt,  misled  by  this 
preconception,  revived  all  the  tales  of  antiquity  and  sought  to 
identify  them  with  the   strange  objects  which  met  their  gaze. 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  91 

This  tendency  is  clearly  evinced  in  the  letters  of  Conrad, 
priest,  politician  and  archaeologist,  who  combined  the  curiosity 
of  a  traveller  with  the  labors  of  an  imperial  ambassador.  At 
the  time  of  his  visit  to  Naples,  he  was  chancellor  to  the 
Emperor  Henry  VI.,  and  accompanied  the  army  which 
besieged  and  captured  the  city  of  Naples.  His  classical 
reminiscences  did  not  prevent  him  from  carrying  out  strictly 
the  orders  of  his  master  to  raze  the  walls  of  the  city.  He 
mentioned  the  Virgilian  legends  in  a  letter  to  the  Abbot  of 
Hildesheim,  and  it  was  in  this  letter  that  he  indulged  his 
imagination  over  the  relics  of  antiquity  which  he  discovered. 
It  would  never  be  supposed,  save  for  the  writings  of  this 
bishop  that  was  to  be,  that  one  could  find  within  the  bound- 
aries of  Italy,  Olympus  and  Parnassus  and  Hippocrene,  Scylla 
and  Charybdis;  Scirrhus  (an  island  where  Thetis  watched 
over  the  hidden  Achilles)  and  the  ruins  of  the  labyrinth  of  the 
Minotaur.  In  this  congeries  of  geographical  blundering,  the 
things  to  be  observed  are  the  reverence  for  the  antique  and 
the  curiosity  respecting  the  works  of  ancient  times,  for  these 
point  unmistakably  not  only  to  the  occasion  but  to  the  source 
of  the  greater  number  of  legends  about  Virgil. 


IV 


Before  proceeding  with  the  different  versions  of  the  legends 
whose  character  has  already  been  hinted  at  in  the  quotations 
from  Neckam,  it  will  be  well  to  bring  together  those  cliassical 
superstitions  which  probably  constituted  the  material  worked 
over  in  the  minds  of  trouveres  like  Helinand,  scientists  like 
Neckam  and  educated  travelers  like  Gervase  and  Conrad.  A 
mass  of  folk-lore  might  be  accumulated  having  a  more  or  less 


92  MASTER   VIRGIL 

direct  bearing  upon  the  subject,  but  two  examples  will  suffice 
to  show  how  the  popular  beliefs  of  the  ancient  world  have 
survived  all  the  changes  of  the  ages,  even  down  to  our  own 
times.     Pliny  records,  as  common  opinions  in  his  day,  and  as 
facts  of  science,  that  the  bird  known  as  the  cuckoo  was  merely 
a  kind  of  hawk,  and  that  olive  trees  became  barren  if  a  she 
goat  rubbed  against  their  trunks.     These  opinions,  both  false, 
are  implicitly  believed  by  the  French  peasantry  at  the  present 
day.     If  in  such  trifling  matters  races,  related  to  each  other, 
have  persisted  in  error  for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  then  no 
surprise  should  be  felt  at  the   recurrence  of  antique  popular 
errors  at  any  intervening  period  in  European  history.     Now 
turn  to  Pliny's  Natural  History.     Among  the  facts  which  he 
recorded  as  indisputable  was  this  that,  under  certain  conditions, 
flesh  could  not  become  putrid,  even  though  none  of  the  usual 
precautions  was  taken  with  it.     He  alluded  to  a  rain  of  fresh 
meat   which   took   place   at   Rome   in   the   consulship  of  P. 
Volumuius  and  Servius  Sulpicius,  where  the  most  remarkable 
circumstance  was  that  putrefaction  did  not  occur.     At  Nea,  a 
town  in  Troas,  he  observed  that  the  remains  of  animals  sacri- 
ficed before  the  statue  of  INIinerva  x-emained  untainted  for  an 
indefiuite  length  of  time.     Certain    places,  also,  were  myste- 
riously obnoxious   to  certain  animals.     For  example,  among 
the  islands  in  the  Western  Mediterranean  was  that  of  Ebusus, 
in  which  no  serpents  could  exist,  though  it  was  only  a  little 
way  from  another  island  completely  overrun  by  these  creatures. 
The  latter  island  was  avoided   by  the  rabbits   that  swarmed 
upon  the  Baleares,  not  far  away.     Wolves  could  not  exist  on 
Mt.  Olympus  in  Macedonia.     All  venomous,  injurious  animals, 
with  the  single  exception  of  a  small  spider,  perished  outright 
in  Crete.     The  shrew  mouse  of  Italy  could  not  cross  a  wagon 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  93 

road  from  one  field  to  another,  because  the  rut  caused  by  a 
wheel  was  fatal  to  it.  In  the  island  of  Poroselene  the  weasels 
dared  not  cross  a  certain  road.  The  swallows,  because  of  the 
crime  committed  by  Tereus,  King  of  Thrace,  could  never  be 
induced  to  frequent  the  capital  of  that  country.  The  soil  of 
Gaulos  and  Galata,  islands  near  Carthage,  was  fatal  to 
scorpions.  The  birds  on  the  island  in  the  Euxine,  where  the 
tomb  of  Achilles  was,  never  ventured  to  enter  the  temple  con- 
secrated to  him.  So  at  Rome  the  temple  of  Hercules  in  the 
Forum  Boarium,  was  free  from  the  presence  of  either  flies  or 
dogs.  The  sacrifice,  at  the  Olympic  games,  of  a  bull  in  honor 
of  the  god  known  as  the  Fly-catcher,  caused  the  immediate 

departure  of  the  winged  insects  in  a  swarm.  On  the  other 
hand  Pliny  cited  also  a  number  of  cases  where  the  human 

inhabitants  of  certain  places  had  been  driven  away  or  extermi- 
nated by  small  animals  and  by  insects.  He  remarked  that  in 
some  localities  it  never  rained ;  for  example,  the  sacred  ground 
upon  which  the  statue  of  Minerva  was  placed  at  Nea,  and  the 
vicinity  of  the  temple  dedicated  to  Venus  at  Paphos.  A  thing 
which  he  was  not  convinced  of  himself,  but  gave  as  a  common 
belief,  was  that  serpents  were  specially  sensitive  to  incantations, 
and  could  even  be  collected  in  a  given  spot  by  magical  formulte.* 

*The  ancients  held,  among  other  opinions,  that  to  be  born  under  a 
certain  constellation  was  to  be  proof  against  the  poison  of  serpents- 

Thus   Manilius  [De  Asfrologia,  translated   by  T ;  London,   1647, 

Book  \ .,  xxiii.]  says  : 

When  Ophieucus  mounts  and  joins  the  Geat, 
Those  that  are  born  shall  live  an  antidote 
To  strongest  Poyson ;  they  may  safely  take 
The  frightful  serpent,  and  the  venomous  Snake 
Into  their  Bosom  ;  whilst  the  monsters  cling 
About  their  bodies,  kils  their  fiercest  sting. ' 

And  in  Book  I.,  as  the  translator  puts  it,  one  may  "Burst  snakes 
with  charms." 


94  MASTER    VIRGIL 

In  his  historical  account  of  magic  he  mentioned  as  a  fact  the 
legend  that  the  philosopher  Democritus  obtained  the  books  of 
Dardanus,  the  magician,  from  his  tomb,  and  used  them  in 
the  composition  of  new  works  on  the  subject. 

Nearly  all  the  passages  of  Pliny  here  cited  involved  those 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  natural  science  which  made  the  theory 
of  magic  possible,  and  the  very  problems  were  presented 
whicli  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  were  supposed 
to  be  solved  by  means  of  the  marvelous  legends  concerning 
the  magicians.  Pliny  attributed  all  the  wonders  he  relates  to 
the  divine  power  of  nature,  but  his  epicureanism  could  not  be 
accepted  by  the  mediaeval  Christians,  The  power  of  a  statue 
of  Hercules  over  flies,  or  of  the  Paphian  Venus  over  the 
elements,  if  not  denied,  was  allowed  as  a  fact  in  magical 
science.  Such  miracles  were  the  common  theme  of  popular 
lore,  lu  the  historical  epitome  attributed  to  Ampelius,  a  work 
probably  of  the  sixth  century,  allusion  is  made  to  a  statue  of 
Diana  at  Rhodes  upon  which  no  rain  ever  fell,  and  the  inex- 
tinguishable lamp  of  mediaeval  legend  has  its  counterpart  in 
the  candelabrum  of  the  shrine  of  Venus  at  Argyrus,  which, 
though  it  stood  in  the  open  air,  shone  continuously  through 
tempests  as  well  as  foir  weather.  Another  wonder  mentioned 
in  this  ejiitorae  was  a  bronze  statue  of  the  Nile  at  the  city  of 
Agartus,  which  frightened  wild  beasts  from  the  neighborhood. 
It  appears  also  that  even  in  early  times  bridges  of  great  size 
were  supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of  enchanters,  a  remark- 
able structure  of  the  kind  in  Epirus  being  credited  to  Medea. 
A  still  more  extraordinary  story  in  its  relation  to  the  magical 
legends  subsequently  connected  with  Virgil's  name  was  that 
related  by  the  post-classical  writer,  Olympiodorus,  concerning 
a  statue  over  against  Mt.  ^Etna  in  Sicily,  which  effectually 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  95 

restrained  the  eruptions  of  the  volcano.  This  statue  served 
other  purposes,  also.  One  leg  was  a  fountain  of  pure  water, 
while  from  the  other  rose  an  inextinguishable  flame.. 


V 


Pliny  frequently  mentioned  amulets,  and  sometimes  the 
objects  he  described  as  possessing  unusual  power  might  have 
answered  to  the  mediaeval  talisman.  The  difference  was  that 
he  looked  upon  such  things,  where  he  believed  in  them  at  all, 
as  exponents  of  the  mysteriouti  powers  of  nature,  while  the 
later  science,  not  a  whit  more  credulous  or  more  absurd, 
viewed  them  as  the  work  of  intelligences,  human  or  otherwise, 
that  had  obtained  dominion  over  nature.  The  logical  outcome 
of  Pliny's  philosophy  would  have  been  a  backward  movement 
on  the  pari  of  mankind ;  the  historical  result  of  the  mediseval 
tendency  has  been  the  progress  of  invention  and  of  the  useful 
arts.  That  man  should  pass  from  the  conception  of  himself 
as  subject  to  nature,  onward  to  a  conception  of  himself  as 
capable  of  subduing  the  forces  of  the  universe  to  his  own  use 
was  an  absolute  necessity  in  the  history  of  thought.  His 
blind  groping  after  new  principles  and  new  methods,  such  as 
would  make  a  synthesis  of  material  facts  possible,  brought 
him  early  to  adopt  such  theories  as  that  of  talismans.  It 
would  be  a  rash  thing  to  say  that  these  theories  have  been 
wholly  abandoned  at  the  present  day,  even  in  the  most 
enlightened  countries  of  the  world.  They  form  the  substance 
of  many  popular  errors,  and  an  inherited  preference  for  them 
gives  universal  interest  to  an  incredible  species  of  fiction.  The 
stories  finally  connected  with  the  name  of  Virgil  were  the 
common  coin  of  the  story  tellers,  with  which  they  purchased 


96  MASTER    VIRGIL 

a  welcome  wherever  they  went  throughout  Europe.  If 
auditors  wearied  of  one  hero,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  substi- 
tute a  new  name,  and  thus  enliven  the  well-tried  narrative. 
In  effect  these  stories  were  like  blank  forms  of  legal 
documents  which  only  required  a  word  here  and  there  to  fit 
.  them  for  a  great  variety  of  uses.  Virgil's  name  was  simply 
one  of  those  accidental  strokes,  out  of  many  failures  that 
were  forgotten,  which  hit  the  popular  fmcy.  It  was  the  same 
with  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  to  whom  certain  monuments  at 
Constantinople  were  attributed.  Thus  the  famous  bronze, 
supposed  to  have  been  the  column  which  was  brought  from 
Delphi,  where  it  supported  the  tripod  dedicated  to  Apollo  by 
the  victorious  Greeks  at  the  close  of  the  Persian  war,  was 
long  believed  to  be  a  talisman.  The  tripod  vanished  long  ago, 
and  the  three  serpents  twisted  together  to  form  the  column 
have  suffered  much.  All  the  heads  are  gone ;  Mohammed  II. 
is  said  to  have  broken  one  with  his  mace.  The  legend  clung 
for  all  to.the  noble  residue  of  this  wonderful  relic.  In  1216 
the  column  was  still  intact,  and  was  then  surmounted  by  a 
figure  said  to  have  been  that  of  an  eagle  with  a  serpent  in  its 
talons.  In  the  lifetime  of  Apollonius  the  city  was  visited  with 
a  plague  of  serpents — so  ran  the  legend — and  he  raised  this 
serpentine  emblem.  In  their  joy  at  being  relieved  from  the 
venomous  pests,  the  people  gave  to  Apollonius  the  name  of 
The  Wise.  It  was  related  also  that  Apollonius,  by  means  of 
other  bronze  images,  banished  flies,  gnats  and  scorpions  from 
Constantinople.  Similar  tales  were  told  of  some  mediaeval 
worthies,  as  Gregory  of  Tours  at  Paris ;  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 
Goffried,  and  Patrick  of  Ireland.  The  opinion  at  the  bottom 
of  all  these  legends  was  adopted  in  the  church  which  had  its 
official  services  for  the  expulsion  of  noxious  animals  from  any 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  97 

place  which  they  infested.*  In  the  cities  that  possessed  relics 
of  ancient  plastic  art,  it  was  easy  to  find  images  appropriate 
to  the  various  magical  legends,  and  thus  the  same  tale  miglit 
be  localized  in  the  several  different  cities,  and  be  told  of  as 
many  different  personages.  In  fact,  the  mediaeval  biographies 
of  magicians  are  notable  for  the  similarity  of  the  anecdotes  in 
each  to  those  of  all  the  rest.  For  example,  the  making  of  a 
head  which  talked  is  attributed  to  Friar  Bacon,  Albertus 
Magnus,  Paracelsus,  Faust  and  others,  as  well  as  Virgil ;  the 
ability  to  fly  through  the  air  to  Faust,  Bacon  and  the  whole 
tribe  of  oriental  magicians.  The  modern  Hindoo  adept  shares 
with  the  mediaeval  necromancers  the  repute  of  being  able  to 
render  himself  invisible.  The  ability  to  convert  a  drawing  or 
painting  into  the  real  thing  it  represented  is  a  frequently- 
mentioned  trick  of  magic.  Albertus  Magnus,  like  ^"irgil, 
made  bronze  flies  to  drive  away  living  flies,  and  a  similar  tale, 
in  which  rats  figured,  was  told  of  Gregory  of  Tours.  But  it 
is  needless  to  multiply  examples.  Many  of  the  marvels  coupled 
with  Virgil's  name  had  been  long  familiar  in  Sicily  and  Middle 

"'This  is  illustrated  at  a  comparatively  late  date  by  an  amusing 
anecdote  of  Chassanee  [See  The  Rise  of  the  Huguenots,  H.  M.  Baird, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  238.]  "It  appears  that  on  a  certain  occasion  the  diocese  of 
the  Autun  was  overrun  with  mice.  The  vicar  of  the  bishop  was  re- 
quested to  exterminate  them.  But  the  ecclesiastical  decree  was  sup- 
posed to  be  most  effective  when  the  regular  forms  of  a  judicial  trial 
were  duly  observed.  An  advocate  of  the  marauders  was,  therefore, 
appointed,  no  other  than  Chassanee  himself,  who,  espousing  with 
professional  ardor  the  cause  of  his  clients,  began  by  insisting  that  a 
summons  should  be  served  in  each  parish ;  next  excused  the  non- 
appearance of  the  defendants,  alleging  the  dangers  of  the  journey  by 
reason  of  the  lying-in-wait  of  their  enemies,  the  cats;  and  finally  ap- 
pealing to  the  compassion  of  the  court  in  behalf  of  a  race  doomed  to 
wholesale  destruction,  acquitted  himself  so  successfully  of  his  fantastic 
commission  that  the  mice  escaped  the  censures  of  the  church,  and 
their  advocate  gained  universal  applause." 


98  MASTER   VI B  GIL 

and  Southern  Italy  attached  to  the  name  of  Heliodorus,  o 
pretended  magician^  who  lived  in  Sicily  in  the  eighth  century. 
Eut  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  the  Italians  led  the  way  in 
applying  any  of  them  to  Virgil.  In  the  midst  of  a  passion 
for  such  narratives  that  was  almost  universal,  it  was  in  Italy 
only  that  the  Virgilian  legends  were  ignored  by  the  popular 
literature  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  In  all  the 
Northern  countries  the  legends  appeared  fully  developed 
before  the  year  1250.  Their  absence  in  Italian  writings 
showed  that  Virgil's  magical  reputation  formed  as  yet  no  part 
of  Italian  folk-lore. 

But  when  credulous  foreigners  went  to  Italy  with  their 
minds  full  of  such  wonders,  it  Avas  not  in  the  nature  of  things 
that  they  should  miss  what  they  expected  to  find.  It  is  an 
axiom  of  travel  that  the  lying  of  the  guide  depends  on  the 
character  of  those  who  are  guided.  A  man  Avho,  like  Conrad, 
had  already  placed  all  the  wonders  of  Greek  mythology  in 
Italy,  could  be  shown  anything  in  Naples  that  he  desired 
to  see. 

"We  saw,"  wrote  the  chancellor,  "among  other  things,  the 
elaborate  works  of  Virgil  at  Naples.  It  was  a  notable  fatality 
that  wo  should  have  been  sent  to  destroy  those  walls  which 
had  been  raised  by  the  chant  of  philosophers.  Another 
strange  thing  was  that  the  model  of  the  city,  enclosed  by  the 
magic  art  of  Virgil  in  a  slender-necked  bottle  of  glass,  was  of 
no  efficacy  in  saving  the  city  from  capture  and  inllago.  For 
we  have  obtained  possession,  not  only  of  the  bottle  and  its 
contents,  but  also  of  the  city ;  and  we  have  razed  the  walls  in 
accordance  with  the  imperial  mandate  without  breaking 
the  talisman.  However,  it  may  have  been  that  an  almost 
imperceptible  crack  which  we  found  in  the  glass,  was  sufficient 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  99 

to  destroy  its  magical  virtue  and  raake  it  au  injury  to  the  city. 
There  is  in  the  same  city  a  horse  of  bronze,  so  endowed  by 
tlie  magical  incantations  of  Virgil  that,  as  long  as  it  remained 
whole,  no  living  horse  could  become  sway-backed,  although 
previous  to  the  construction  of  this  statue  the  horses  were 
unfitted  by  weakness  for  the  saddle,  and  since  it  has  been  dam- 
aged they  can  no  longer  bear  a  knight  without  having  their 
spines  broken.  In  one  of  the  fortresses  now  occupied  by  the 
imperial  guards,  the  main  gateway  of  which  is  shut  with 
double  doors  of  bronze,  Virgil  placed  a  bronze  fly  which, 
while  it  was  intact,  prevented  flies  from  entering  the  city.  The 
bones  of  Virgil  are  placed  in  a  castle  overlooking  the  city, " 
but  surrounded  at  its  base  on  all  sides  by  the  sea.  If  these 
bones  are  exposed  to  the  air  the  sky  becomes  obscured  forth- 
with, the  sea  rises  and  the  roar  of  the  tempest  is  heard.  This 
we  have  se.en  and  proved.  We  were  told  that  the  so-called 
Ferrean  gate  was  the  one  beneath  which  Virgil  had  confined  all 
the  serpents  which  abound  in  the  many  caverns  and  vaults  and 
crypts  which  lie  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  that  region. 
When  the  walls  and  gates  were  destroyed,  this  gate  was  left  stand- 
ing, because  we  feared  to  release  the  serpents  from  their  prison. 
There  is  also  in  Naples  a  shambles  so  contrived  by  Virgil  that 
the  flesh  of  an  animal  killed  in  it  will  keep  fresh  and 
untainted  for  six  weeks,  but  if  taken  out  will  stink  and  appear 
to  be  putrid.  Mt.  Vesuvius,  which  stands  over  against  the 
city,  once  every  decade  pours  out  volumes  of  flame  mingled 
with  foul-smelling  ashes.  Virgil  erected  between  the  mountain 
and  the  city  the  bronze  statue  of  an  archer,  with  his  cross  bow 
drawn  and  the  arrow  on  the  string  ready  to  shoot.  A  rustic, 
struck  with  wonder  because  the  statue,  though  always  in 
readiness,  never  would  shoot,  touched  the  string.     The  flying 


100  MAS  TEE    VIE  GIL 

arrow  fell  into  the  crater,  the  flames  burst  forth  and  afterward 
observed  neither  time  nor  season. " 


VI 


The  case  of  Gervase  was  different  from  that  of  Conrad. 
When  the  author  of  the  Otia  Imperialia  visited  Italy  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  for  the  growth  of  numerous  legends.  The 
work  of  Neckam  had  been  in  the  hands  of  scholars  for  fully  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  the  Polycraticus  of  John  of  Salisbury 
had  been  widely  read  since  its  publication  in  1171.  An 
example  has  been  given  of  the  development  of  a  marvellous 
tale  from  the  trifling  incident  of  a  lunatic's  search  for  Virgil's 
relics,  and  the  inference  is  obvious  that  other  tales  were  devel- 
oped with  equal  ease  from  an  equally  trivial  origin.  Moreover, 
Gervase  was  a  professed  marvel  hunter.  Echoing  that 
phraseology  with  which  Pliny  habitually  introduced  statements 
hard  to  believe,  Gervase  defined  the  marvellous  to  be  merely 
that  which,  while  it  might  be  true  to  nature,  surpassed  the 
understanding  of  man.  Citing  the  examples  of  the  salamander 
which  could  only  live  in  fire,  and  of  rocks  that  could  only  be 
burned  under  water,  he  cautioned  his  readers  against  condemn- 
ing as  fabulous  anything,  however  incredible,  which  they 
found  in  his  book  until  they  were  able  to  explain  the  mysteries 
that  beset  their  own  daily  life.  Throughout  his  remarks  on 
the  Virgilian  legends  he  had  the  air  of  one  who  sought  to 
enliven  a  familiar  subject  by  incorporating  novel  thoughts  and 
incidents  with  anecdotes  that  had  long  ago  lost  their  freshness. 
He  first  presented  the  case  of  a  church  refectory  in  a  city  of  Gaul, 
which  was  remarkable  for  its  freedom  from  flies.  The  church 
was  enriched  with  the  relics  of  saints,  and  was  celebrated  for 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  101 

the  frequent  occurrence  of  miracles.  Having  learned  by- 
hearsay  of  the  exceptional  immunity  from  the  visits  of  insects 
which  was  enjoyed  in  the  ancient  refectory,  Gervase  was  led 
to  investigate  the  matter  for  himself,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  the  wonderful  story  was  true. 

"But  then,"  he  proceeds,  "we  know  that  in  the  Campania, 
in  the  city  of  Naples,  Virgil,  by  means  of  his  mathematical 
skill,  made   a  bronze  fly  of  such  power,  that,  as  long  as  it 
remained  entire  in  the  place  appointed  for  it,  even  the  most 
remote  parts  of  the  city  were  free  from   flies.     In  the  same 
city  there  is  a  shambles  in  the  partition  walls  of  which  Virgil 
placed  a  piece  of   flesh,   so  efiicacious  that,   while    included 
among  the  contents  of  the  building,  no  flesh  became  tainted. 
One  of  the  gates  of  Naples  opens  in  the  direction  of  Nola, 
a  renowned  city  of  the  Campania.     The  passage  through  this 
gate   is  paved  with   stones,   under  which,   by  means   of  an 
image,   Virgil  imprisoned  all  the  venomous   reptiles  of  the 
region ;  so  that,  while  the  whole  of  the  spacious  city  is  sup- 
ported on  subterranean  columns,  no  fly  is  to  be  found  in  its 
chambers  nor  vaults,  and  not  a  serpent  in  the  gardens  within 
the  walls.     In  the  garden  of  Virgil,  on  the   slope  of  Monte 
Vergine,    there   is   the   bronze   statue   of   a   man  holding   a 
trumpet  to  his  mouth.     Whenever  the  south  wind  blows  into 
this  trumpet  its  direction  is  changed.     Now  observe  the  reason 
for  this  precaution  against  the  wind  from  the  south.     There 
is  in   the  confines  of  the  Neapolitan  territory  a  very  high 
mountain,  rising  from  the  sea,  which  overlooks  the  spacious 
plain   of    the   Land   of  Labor.     In  the  month   of  May  this 
mountain  belches  forth  stinking  vapor,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
throws  out  very  hot  cinders,  burned  to  the  color  of  charcoal. 
They  say,  judging  by  these  signs,  that  the  crater  is  the  chimney 


102  MASTER   VIRGIL 

of  a  terrene  inferno.  When  the  south  wind  blows,  a  burning 
dust  burns  up  the  herbage  and  the  fruit  and  reduces  the 
fields  to  sterility.  Virgil,  to  relieve  the  country  from  this 
misfortune,  as  we  have  said,  placed  a  statue  on  the  hill 
opposite  with  a  trumpet  in  order  that  at  the  first  sound  of  the 
winded  horn,  and  at  the  first  wave  of  air  entering  the  trumpet, 
the  wind  should  exhaust  itself,  repulsed  by  the  power  of 
mathematics  {vi  mathesis.)  In  the  same  territory  there  is  a 
wonderful  passage  hewed  in  the  solid  rock  beneath  the  mount- 
ain. It  is  of  such  a  length  that  a  person  standing  midway 
can  barely  descry  the  entrances.  This  subterranean  gallery 
was  excavated  by  means  of  Virgil's  mathematical  learning 
(arte  matheinatica) ,  and  so  wisely  protected  that,  in  the  heart  of 
the  mountain,  the  most  ingenious  devices  of  fraud  and  malice 
are  rendered  nugatory." 

Gervase  pretended  to  a  certain  method  in  testing  by  his  own 
observation  or  experience  the  wonders  related  to  him.  As  if 
to  substantiate  all  the  remarkable  things  which  he  had  been 
writing  about  Virgil,  he  gave  a  detailed  account  of  what  hap- 
pened to  himself  upon  entering  the  city  of  Naples  through 
the  gate  of  Good  and  111  Fortune.  He  had  arrived  there  in 
company  with  Philip,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Salisbury,  in  the 
hope  of  finding  a  ship  in  which  they  could  put  to  sea.  The 
travellers  were  ready  to  accept  much  inconvenience,  as  they 
were  eager  to  be  away  on  their  voyage.  While  in  the 
city  they  visited  Archdeacon  Pinatelli,  whose  acquaintance 
Gervase  had  made  in  the  school  of  canon  law  at  Bologna. 
At  the  port  they  found  a  vessel  almost  ready  to  sail  which 
suited  them  ia  every  particular,  and  the  visitors  were 
naturally  led  to  inquire  the  cause  of  such  a  piece  of  good 
luck. 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  103 

"Ah,"  exclaimed  the  archdeacon,  with  the  manner  of  one 
who  had  in  mind  the  only  solution  of  which  the  problem  was 
capable,  "by  what  road  did  you  enter  the  city?"  and  added, 
when  he  was  satisfied  upon  this  point,  "Fortune  favored  you, 
because  you  merited  her  aid.  But,  pray  tell  me,  by  which 
of  the  two  gates  that  stand  side  by  side,  did  you  first  purpose 
to  enter?" 

"When  we  came  to  the  gates,"  answered  Gervase,  "we 
started  toward  the  left  as  that  which  was  more  convenient  for 
us,  but  it  happened  that  an  ass  laden  with  wood  met  us  in  the 
way  and  compelled  us  to  go  to  the  right." 

"Just  as  I  supposed,"  said  the  archdeacon.  "Now,  that 
you  may  know  the  wonderful  works  of  Virgil  in  this  place,  I 
will  point  out  to  you  the  memorial  which  he  has  left  upon  the 
earth." 

So  they,  all  went  to  the  gate,  and  Pinatelli  showed  his 
visitors,  on  the  right,  a  head  of  Parian  marble,  mirthful  and 
pleasant  to  look  upon,  and  on  the  left,  another,  also  in  Parian 
marble,  but  with  features  distorted,  as  if  by  grief  and  pain. 
These  two  contrasted  images  of  the  human  countenance,  he 
explained,  governed  the  fortunes  of  all  who  entered  the  city. 
No  care  could  avert  the  decree.  Whoever  was  enabled  to 
pass  inward  through  the  right  port  prospered  in  all  that  he 
undertook,  while  he  who  turned  to  the  left  was  defrauded  of 
all  his  wishes.  "Inasmuch  as  you  were  turned  unwillingly  to 
the  right  by  the  ass  and  its  burden,"  he  moralized,  "consider 
how  quickly  you  accomplished  what  you  aimed  at." 

"These  things,"  concluded  Gervase,  "we  do  not  write  as 
arguing  with  the  Sadducees,  who  assert  that  in  God  and  in 
marble — that  is,  in  fate  and  chance — all  things  consist ;  but  we 
desire   only    to   commemorate    the   mathematical    studies   of 


104  MASTER   VIRGIL 

Virgil."  From  his  standpoint  this  mysterious  power,  belonging 
to  the  science  of  numbers,  was  sufficient  to  harmonize  the 
most  improbable  tales  Avith  the  demonstrated  principles  of 
science. 


VII 


As  in  this  case,  so  in  others,  the  association  of  magical  tales 
with  the  name  of  Virgil  led  at  once  to  the  identification  of 
certain  objects  of  art  as  the  visible  proof  of  the  respective 
narratives.  It  is  possible  that  some  statues  might  have  been 
connected  with  the  name  of  Virgil,  independently  of  the 
legends,  from  very  early  times.  According  to  a  Neapolitan 
writer  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  two  marble  faces  in  the 
Nolan  gate  still  occupied  the  places  where  Gervase  had  seen 
them.  The  bronze  horse  to  which  another  of  the  legends 
referred  was  still  shown  in  1322.  Time  and  barbarism  had 
almost  destroyed  it,  but  the  legend  accounted  for  its  broken 
condition  by  the  statement  that  the  workmen,  to  whom  the 
statue  was  entrusted  for  repairs,  opened  it  to  see  what  it 
contained,  and  thus  destroyed  its  symmetry  as  a  statue  and  its 
virtue  as  a  talisman.  Fragments  still  preserved  in  the  museum 
of  Naples  show  that  the  figure  must  have  been  of  colossal 
size.  Among  the  innumerable  relics  of  antiquity  a  human 
figure  might  easily  have  been  found  answering  to  the 
description  given  by  either  Conrad  or  Gervase  of  the  statue 
opposed  to  Mt.  Vesuvius.  The  favorite  subject  of  a  youth 
brandishing  a  javelin,  which  Pliny  mentioned,  would  have 
answered,  for  it  is  obvious  from  the  differing  accounts  of  the 
two  travellers  that  the  crossbow  and  the  trumpet  are  mere 
inferences  from  the  attitude  of  the  fragmentary  statue.     In 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  105 

the  fourteenth  century  the  statue  was  spoken  of  as  one  that 
had  stood  in  the  Gate  of  the  Winds,  or,  as  it  was  afterward 
called,  the  Royal  Gate.  The  most  notable,  and,  perhaps,  the 
most  ancient  of  the  objects  which  Virgil  was  supposed  to  have 
endowed  with  talismanic  efficacy  was  the  bronze  fly.  Long 
before  the  time  of  Conrad  or  Gervase,  John  of  Salisbury  had 
related  an  instructive  fable  about  it,  according  to  his  usual 
custom,  with  a  moral.  Marcellus,  the  nephew  of  Octavian, 
was  passionately  fond  of  fowling.  The  wise  poet  asked  the 
youth  whether  he  would  prefer  to  have  a  decoy  that  would 
lure  the  whole  tribe  of  birds  to  destruction,  or  a  fly  that 
would  banish  all  annoying  insects.  Marcellus,  at  that  time 
governor  of  Naples,  consulted  his  uncle,  and  chose  the  fly. 
From  this  incident  the  sapient  John  evolved  the  highly 
edifying  docet  that  the  truest  pleasure  is  found  in  works  of 
utility.  The  important  point  is,  however,  the  proof  furnished 
by  this  story  that  the  bronze  fly  as  a  work  of  Virgil  was 
familiar  to  men  of  learning  before  the  year  1170.  The 
English  satirist,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  that  wrote  The 
Vision  of  Golias,  the  Bishop,  years  before  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century,  was  also  familiar  Avith  it,  and  looked  upon  it 
as  a  fact  of  classical  history.  One  would  suppose  from  his 
allusion  that  the  making  of  bronze  flies  w^as  Virgil's  sole  occu- 
pation. It  is  worth  remembering  that  Pliny  mentioned 
several  statuaries  who  modelled  figures  of  insects,  and,  among 
the  rest,  the  cicada  and  the  fly.  The  bronze  to  which  Conrad 
and  Gervase  refer  was  about  the  size  of  a  frog.  It  was 
subsequently  removed  from  the  place  where  it  was  seen  by 
Conrad  to  a  window  in  Castle  Capuano,  and  thence  to  Castle  St. 
Angelo,  where  it  was  soon  discovered  to  have  lost  its  efficacy. 
It  IS  not  at  all  strange  that  Conrad,  following  the  universal 


106  MASTER    VI B GIL 

belief  of  liis  times,  should  have  considered  the  glass  toy 
captured  by  the  imperial  troops  a  talisman  for  the  protection 
of  the  city ;  nor  that  he  should  have  connected  it  with  the 
name  of  Virgil,  iu  view  of  the  notions  he  had  brought  Avith 
him.  A  great  stretch  of  credulity  would  be  required  to  credit 
the  supposition  that  Neapolitans  acknowledged  to  their  hated 
conquerors  even  the  existence  of  such  an  ineffectual  j^ialladium. 
The  legend  subsequently  developed  by  French  and  German 
romancers  substituted  an  egg  enclosed  in  a  flask  of  glass,  this 
in  turn  being  deposited  in  a  receptacle  of  iron  ;  and  this  was 
associated  with  the  ancient  Castle  of  the  Sea  built  by  "William 
I.  in  1154,  and  afterward  enlarged  by  Frederick  II.  In  the 
fourteenth  century  the  name  of  the  fortress  was  changed  to 
the  Castle  of  the  Enchanted  Egg,  by  which  appellation  it 
became  renowned  in  the  le^rends  of  the  Knisjhts  of  the  Order 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  founded  there  in  1352  by  Louis  of  Anjou. 
In  the  Roman  da  CleoTnades  it  was  related  that  Virgil  built  two 
castles  in  the  sea,  each  balanced  on  au  egg.  One  of  these 
castles  was  destroyed  by  the  breaking  of  its  egg,  but  the  other 
was  described  as  still  standing  at  Naples.  The  author  of 
L'lmarje  du  Monde  fancied  that  the  whole  city  Avas  founded 
upon  an  egg,  any  movement  of  which  caused  something  like 
an  earthquake.  Jans  Enenkel,  in  his  Welthiich,  increases  the 
number  of  eggs  to  three.  Of  the  other  talismans  JJ Image  du 
Monde  mentioned  the  fly,  the  horse,  the  bridge  of  air,  and  a 
head  that  uttered  prophecies.  The  Cleomades  described  the 
horse  as  raised  upon  a  pillar. 

VIII 

The   idea    entertained    of  Virgil    being  exactly  similar    to 
that  entertained  of  all  men  of  science,  it  was  natural  that 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  107 

fanciful  tales  in  lespect  to  the  latter  should  be  frequently 
transferred  to  him.  Of  those  persons  whose  legendary  exploits 
were  confounded  with  those  of  Virgil,  the  most  famous  was 
Pope  Sylvester  II.,  better  known  by  the  name  of  Gerbert, 
who  enjoyed  a  scandalous  notoriety  on  account  of  his  taste  tor 
mathematical  and  mechanical  studies.  The  mediaeval  opinion 
of  asbestos  was  not  that  it  was  proof  against  fire,  but  that 
when  it  once  got  to  burning  it  could  not  be  put  out.  In 
L'lmage  du  Monde  the  antique  superstition  concerning  inex- 
tinguishable lamps  was  applied  to  Virgil  possibly  with  this 
opinion  in  mind.  Two  wax  tapers  and  an  ever-burning 
lamp  lighted  his  sepulchre.  In  the  Cleomades,  however,  and 
in  the  versions  of  The  Seven  Wise  Masters,  a  fire  was  substituted 
for  the  lamp  and  candles,  and  before  it  was  placed  an  archer 
■with  bow  drawn  ready  to  shoot.  The  arrow  bore  a  Hebrew 
inscription-  "If  any  one  strikes  me,  I  will  strike."  Of 
course,  somebody  was  found  in  course  of  time  foolish  enough 
to  strike  the  statue,  whereupon  the  arrow  sped  from  the  bow 
and  extinguished  the  fire.  The  inscription  was  very  similar 
to  that  on  a  statue  mentioned  in  the  legends  of  Gerbert.  The 
account  of  the  latter  given  by  William  of  Malmesbury  is 
thus  translated  by  Warton:  "At  Rome  there  was  a  brazen 
statue,  extending  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand ;  and  on 
its  forehead  was  written,  'Strike  here.'  Being  suspected  of 
concealing  a  treasure,  it  had  received  many  bruises  from  the 
credulou©  and  ignorant  in  their  endeavors  to  open  it.  Gerbert 
unriddled  the  mystery.  At  noonday,  observing  the  shadow  of 
the  forefinger  upon  the  ground,  he  marked  the  spot.  At 
night  he  went  to  the  place  with  a  page  carrying  a  lamp. 
There,  by  a  magical  operation,  he  opened  a  wide  passage  in 
the  earth,  through  which  they  both  descended  and  came  to  a 


-108  MASTER   VIBGIL 

vast  palace  The  walls,  the  beams  and  the  whole  structure 
were  of  gold ;  they  saw  golden  images  of  knights  playing  at 
chess,  with  a  king  and  queen  of  gold  at  a  banquet,  with 
numerous  attendants  in  gold  and  cups  of  immense  size  and 
value.  In  a  recess  was  a  carbuncle,  whose  lustre  illuminated 
the  whole  palace,  opposite  to  which  stood  a  figure  with  bended 
bow.  As  they  attempted  to  touch  some  of  the  rich  furniture, 
all  the  golden  images  seemed  to  rush  upon  them.  Gerbert 
was  too  wise  to  attempt  this  a  second  time,  but  the  page  was 
bold  enough  to  snatch  from  the  table  a  golden  knife  of  exquisite 
workmanship.  At  that  moment  all  the  golden  images  rose  up 
with  a  dreadful  noise,  the  figure  with  the  bow  shot  at  the 
carbuncle,  and  a  total  darkness  ensued.  The  page  then 
replaced  the  knife,  otherwise  they  would  both  have  suffered  a 
cruel  death." 

A  variation  of  the  same  idea  is  found  in  Jans  Enenkel's 
account  of  Virgil,  according  to  which  the  statue  was  at 
Naples.  It  was  of  gold,  and  one  hand  rested  on  the  figure  of 
a  wild  buck,  while  the  other  seemed  to  point  toward  a  neigh- 
boring mountain.  It  was  universally  believed  that  the  statue 
indicated  some  concealed  treasure,  and  many  people,  supposing 
it  to  be  in  the  mountain,  made  excavations  there  to  no  purpose. 
Finally,  an  intoxicated  man  raised  the  question  why  this 
statue,  Avhich  had  mocked  mankind  so  long,  was  suffered  to 
rest  its  hand  on  the  buck.  Vowing  that  he  would  avenge  the 
people,  he  struck  the  beast  a  mighty  blow,  severing  the  head 
from  the  body,  and  thus  disclosed  the  hoard  at  which  the 
statue  had  been  pointing  all  the  time. 

It  was  said  of  Gerbert,  as  of  Virgil,  that  he  contrived  a 
prophetic  head  of  bronze,  and  that  his  death  happened 
through  his  not  having  understood  one  of  its  predictions.    The 


I 


THE  31  AN  OF  SCIENCE  109 

story  of  Virgil  in  H Image  du  Monde,  and  in  Renars  Contrefait, 
was  that  one  day  upon  consulting  the  prophetic  head,  in 
respect  to  a  voyage  which  he  proposed  to  make,  he  met  with 
the  response  that  he  would  be  safe  enough  if  he  only  took  care 
of  his  head.  He  supposed  the  allusion  was  to  the  bronze 
head,  and  not  to  the  head  on  his  shoulders,  and  so,  failing  to 
take  proper  precautions,  was  prostrated  by  a  sunstroke  and 
died  from  inflammation  of  the  brain. 

A  similar  confusion  caused  the  introduction  of  Virgil's 
name  in  some  separate  tales  in  collections  like  the  Gesta 
Romanorum.  A  notable  example  is  the  tale  so  often  mentioned 
as  containing  the  plot  used  by  Shakespeare  in  the  Merchant 
of  Venice.  Briefly,  the  tale  is  that  of  a  knight  who  has 
impoverished  himself  in  vain  for  love  of  a  royal  damsel.  In  order 
to  obtain  a  loan  he  gives  a  bond  to  the  usurer  by  which  he 
agrees  to  forfeit  a  piece  of  his  flesh  to  be  cut  from  his  body, 
if  he  fails  to  pay  the  debt.  A  portion  of  the  sum  borrowed 
was  used  in  paying  the  fee  of  Magister  Virgilius,  the  learned 
man,  whose  advice  enabled  the  lover  to  prosper  in  his  suit. 


IX 


With  the  Italian  writers  who  took  up  the  legends,  Virgil 
rarely  fell  below  the  character  of  the  man  of  learning.  They 
manifested  the  same  delicacy  which  Gervase  had  shown  in 
avoiding  any  imputation  of  magical  practices.  The  author  of 
the  Oroniea  di  Partenope,  proud  of  Virgil's  relations  to  Naples, 
attributed  to  his  skill  the  aqueducts,  fountains,  wells  and 
sewers  of  the  city  and  added  to  the  number  of  the  talismans 
a  bronze  cicada,  which  destroyed  all  the  cicadas  in  the 
Neapolitan  territories,    and   a  little  fish  which   drew   living 


110  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

fishes  into  the  nets.  The  story  of  the  palladium  of  Naples 
was  restored  to  its  earliest  form.  Caracciolo,  however, 
increased  the  number  of  prophetic  heads  to  four,  and  explained 
that  they  were  placed  in  Naples  by  Virgil  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  Duke  informed  of  the  events  transpiring  through- 
out the  world.  The  Florentine  popular  poet,  Antonio  Pucci, 
noted  the  various  talismans  attributed  to  Virgil  in  his 
commonplace  book,  but  made  no  other  use  of  them.  He 
followed  the  example  of  the  earliest  romancers  in  ascribing 
Virgil's  legendary  works  to  proficiency  in  astronomy.  Buon- 
amente  Aliprando,  in  his  versified  chronicle  of  Mantua, 
mentioned  the  enchanted  fly  as  enclosed  in  a  glass.  He  added 
a  story  which  had  not  been  related  before,  that  Virgil  created 
a  fountain  of  oil  for  the  use  of  the  Neapolitans. 


The  conception  of  Virgil  as  a  physician  and  man  of  science 
appears  to  have  given  occasion  for  a  very  bizarre  and  awkward 
interpolation  in  the  biography  which  goes  under  the  name  of 
Donatus.  The  spurious  anecdote  probably  dates  from  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  it  is  one  of  those  which  particularly 
aroused  the  resentment  of  Heyne  against  the  monks,  who,  he 
supposed,  were  its  authors.  Considered  merely  as  an 
invention,  the  tale  is  not  altogether  lacking  in  cleverness. 
Having  become  more  skillful  and  erudite  than  others — so  goes 
the  story,  Virgil  betook  himself  to  the  city,  where  he  obtained 
the  friendship  of  the  imperial  master  of  horse  on  account  of 
his  success  in  treating  the  diseases  of  the  horses.  As  a  reward  for 
his  labor,  Virgil  received  a  daily  allowance  of  bread,  along 
with  all  the  other  servants  in  the  stables.     In  the  meanwhile 


THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  HI 

a  Crotouiau  colt  of  wonderful  beauty,  sent  as  a  gift  to  Caesar, 
arrived,  and  in  the  judgment  of  all  but  Virgil  promised  to  be 
of  great  strength  and  speed.  Maro,  after  a  careful  examina- 
tion, insisted  that  the  animal  was  foaled  by  a  sick  mare,  and 
would  never  come  to  much.  The  result  proved  his  opinion 
to  be  correct.  When  Augustus  heard  of  the  matter,  he 
ordered  that  Virgil's  allowance  of  bread  should  be  doubled. 
Afterward  a  litter  of  puppies  Avas  brought  from  Spain,  and 
Virgil  gave  so  accurate  an  account  of  the  breed,  disposition  and 
capacities  of  the  animals  that  the  emperor  quadrupled  the 
allowance  of  bread. 

In  a  matter  left  wholly  to  conjecture,  it  is  competent  to  infer 
that  the  anecdote,  so  far  as  it  has  been  given,  was  by  one 
hand,  and  that  the  sequel  was  added  by  another  writer.  The 
latter  apparently  reflected  that  as  yet  no  explanation  had  been 
given  of  the  method  by  which  Virgil  attained  his  veterinary 
skill,  nor  of  the  steps  by  which  he  rose  to  the  acquaintance  of 
Octavian,  nor  of  his  relations  with  Pollio.  The  allowances 
of  bread,  so  often  mentioned,  seemed  to  him  absurdly  out 
of  character.  The  concluding  part  ot  the  tale  begins  with  the 
statement  that  Augustus  was  in  doubt  whether  he  was  really 
the  son  of  Octavius  or  not,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that, 
perhaps,  Virgil  could  discover  the  fact  in  this  case,  as  he  had 
done  in  the  case  of  the  Crotonian  colt  and  the  Spanish  puppies. 
He,  therefore,  spoke  to  the  poet  very  privily  one  day,  and 
asked  him  to  solve  this  problem  if  he  could.  Substantially, 
the  question  of  Augustus  was : 

"  Do  you  know  me  Avell  enough  to  tell  me  Avho  my  father 
was?" 

"I  know,"  answered   Maro,  with  caution,   "that   you  are 
Csesar  Augustus,  and  that  you  have  jiowcr  almost  as  great  as 


112  MASTER    VIBGIL 

that   of  the   immortal    gods,   so  that    you    can    make    happy 
whomsoever  you  will." 

' '  My  power  shall  be  exerted  to  the  utmost  in  your  behalf, 
if  you  answer  my  question.  You  know  there  are  some  who 
think  me  the  sou  of  Octavius,  whUe  others  insist  that  I  am  the 
son  of  another  man.     Now,  what  do  you  say  ?  " 

"I  can  answer  that,"  replied  Maro,  Avith  a  smile,  "if  you 
allow  me  to  speak  freely,  without  fear  of  jDunishment." 

"Never  fear," exclaimed  Augustus,  "  you  shall  be  rewarded, 
not  punished." 

Then  Maro,  inspecting  the  eyes  of  the  emperor,  said  :  "  It  is 
quite  an  easy  thing  for  mathematicians  and  philosophers  to 
discern  in  the  lower  animals  their  inherited  qualities  ;  in  man 
it  is  impossible,  but  I  think  I  could  guess  very  nearly  what  ; 

occuj^ation  your  father  followed." 

Augustus  was  all  attention.  ; 

"As  near  as  I  can  make  out,  your  father  was  a  baker." 

Caesar  was  confounded  at  this  unexi:)ected  turn,  but  Virgil, 
without  giving  him  a  chance  to  speak,  added:  "For  this 
reason:  when  I  predicted  certain  things,  which  could  be 
divined  only  by  a  man  of  the  utmost  learning,  you,  as  prince 
of  the  world,  again  and  again  commanded  that  my  reward 
should  be  an  allowance  of  bread.     Surely,  that  was  character-  I 

istic  of  a  baker,  or  the  son  of  a  baker." 

The  Avitticism  pleased  Caesar,  who  exclaimed :  * '  But  now  you 
shall  receive  gifts,  not  from  a  baker,  but  from  a  magnanimous 
sovereign."  And  he  gave  him  many  things,  and  commended 
him  to  PoUio. 


SIX TH- VIRGIL,    THE  SAVIOUR    OF  R OME 


Describing  the  shield  of  JEneas,  in  the  eighth  book  of  the 
JEneid,  the  poet  was  careful  to  include  among  the  pictures  or 
reliefs  with  which  it  was  ornamented  one  commemorative  of 
the  hero  Manlius.  The  Tarpeian  citadel,  the  capitol,  the 
figure  of  the  warrior  and  that  of  the  bird  whose  cries  aroused 
him  from  slumber  were  all  depicted  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
one  suspect  that  in  these  verses  lay  the  germ  of  the  fancy 
embodied  in  Neckam's  tale  about  the  temple  and  the  statues 
which  defended  Rome.  Enchanted  statues  were  a  common 
feature  of  oriental  tales,  but  usually  in  such  circumstances  as 
to  suggest  little  in  common  with  the  Vii'gUian  legend.  It  is 
not  necessary,  however,  to  appeal  to  oriental  beliefs  for  the 
origin  of  this  strange  error  in  Europe.  Paganism,  with  its 
innumerable  statues  of  the  gods  left  a  mark  on  the  minds  of 
men  too  deep  to  be  quickly  effaced.  Christians  did  not  deny 
that  the  statues  of  the  gods  were  animated  by  a  superhuman 
intelligence.  As  heathens,  they  themselves  had  been 
cognizant  of  things  which,  in  their  limited  state  of  knowledge, 
with  the  prejudices  of  ages  resting  upon   them,  they  could 


114  MAS  TEE    VIRGIL 

not  explain  without  presuming  tliat  idols  were  inhabited  by 
beings  more  than  human  in  prescience  and  power.  When 
Celsus  adduced  the  oracles  that  had  been  uttered  by  idols  as 
the  proof  of  the  j^agan  religion,  Origen  replied,  not  by 
denying  the  fact,  but  by  denouncing  the  deities  as  infernal 
powers.  One  instance  of  this  superstition  is  found  in  the  first 
apocr}'phal  Gospel  of  the  Infancy  of  Jesus,  where  the  idols  of 
Egypt  are  represented  as  assembling  to  pay  homage  to  one 
supreme  idol  out  of  which  Satan  spoke.  That  this  remained  a 
prevalent  notion,  and  that  the  example  cited  was  looked  upon 
as  furnishing  au  argument  in  behalf  of  Christianity,  are  plain 
inferences  from  the  fact  that  Herbers,  in  the  Dolopathos, 
relating  the  tale  at  length,  used  it  to  prove  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  because  all  these  statues  Avere  said  to  have  fallen 
when  He  was  taken  to  Egypt  by  His  parents.  Augustine 
quoted  Hermes  Trisraegistus  as  saying  to  ^Esculapius  :  "  The 
statues,  animated  and  full  of  sensation  and  spirit,  and  who  do 
such  wonderful  things  ;  the  statues  prescient  of  future  events, 
and  foretelling  them  by  lot,  by  prophet,  by  dreams  and  many 
other  things ;  who  bring  disease  on  men  and  cure  them  again, 
giving  them  joy  or  sorrow,  according  to  their  merits."  What- 
ever may  be  concluded  as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  passage 
or  the  historical  icality  of  Hermes,  it  is  plain  that  Augustine 
accepted  the  notion  of  animated  statues  as  in  part  true.  This 
impression  respecting  the  symbols  of  idolatry  harmonized  well 
with  the  popular  notions  of  magic,  and  made  a  proper 
foundation  for  the  most  fanciful  superstructure  which  a  rude 
and  curious  civilization  could  devise.  The  early  story  of  the 
fall  of  the  idols  in  Egypt  liad  more  than  one  counterpart  in 
the  West,  and  all  these  were  connected  in  legend  with  the 
incidents    attending    the    crucifixion    as     narrated     by    the 


THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ROME  115 

Evangelists.  A  statue  of  Romulus  in  Rome  feU  when  Christ 
died,  a  fountain  of  oil  burst  out  of  the  ground,  the  temple  of 
Peace  tumbled  into  ruins,  and  other  wonders  were  said  to  have 
occurred. 

These  tales  did  not  appear  in  Christian  literature  until  long 
after  all  other  literature  had  ceased  to  live  in  Europe.  Most 
of  them  were  doubtless  the  invention  of  Christian  times.  But 
the  legend  which  Neckam  revived  has  some  features  which 
give  it  a  look  of  greater  antiquity.  Even  the  freest,  wildest 
imagination  will  remain  inactive  without  the  stimulus  of 
mystery.  To  the  nations  of  Southern  Europe,  the  customs 
of  Rome  long  retained  that  air  of  familiarity  which  was  the 
result  of  the  close  relationship  produced  by  the  empire.  The 
people  of  those  nations  had  been  acquainted  with  the  archi- 
tecture of  Rome,  with  its  statues,  its  literature,  from  first  to 
last,  and  had  contributed  many  of  the  greatest  names  in 
Roman  annals.  It  is  improbable  that  a  tale  which  involved 
a  false  and  absurd  explanation  of  Roman  methods  of  war 
could  have  become  current  among  them  at  an  early  period. 
Nor  is  it  probable,  on  the  other  hand,  that  long  after  the 
Roman  power  had  dwindled  to  insignificance,  and  after  the 
terror  and  mystery  of  the  Roman  military  sciencewereforgotten 
either  barbarian  or  provincial  philosophers  should  invent 
needless  solutions  for  problems  which  had  never  been  suggested 
to  them.  But  suppose  an  insulated  civilization,  dating  from 
the  beginning  of  the  empire,  interrupted  but  not  overthrown 
by  repeated  invasions  of  savages;  owing  its  origin  to  the 
practical  sense  of  the  Roman  soldier,  and  its  renewal  from 
time  to  time  to  military  changes,  to  adventurous  travellers  and 
finally  to  missionaries;  owing  little,  if  anything,  for  centuries 
to  legitimate  literature  or  science — and  there  is  provided  a 


116  MASTER   VIRGIL 

state  of  society  in  which  magical  stories,  to  account  for  the 
foresight  and  the  wide  reach  of  Roman  geniuS;  might  be 
implicitly  believed.  The  stories  would  have  been  of  the  kind 
which  a  Roman  soldier  could  delight  in  telling  to  a  group  of 
credulous  natives,  and  the  requisite  credulity  could  not  have 
been  found  save  in  some  far  corner  of  the  empire.  Celtic 
Britain  and  Saxon  England  alone  furnish  conditions  parallel  to 
this  hypothetical  state.  It  is  a  general  opinion  that  the  tales 
of  the  Gesta  Romanorum  acquired  among  the  Saxons  the  form 
in  which  they  descended  to  modern  times;  and  the  question 
that  remains  is :  Through  what  medium  did  the  Saxons  obtain 
the  fragments  which  they  pieced  together  in  those  tales  ?  The 
inquiry  is  one  to  which  all  answers  must  be  conjectural,  and 
the  test  of  the  conjecture  is  its  simplicity,  directness  and 
probability.  The  relations  of  Celtic  Britain  to  the  Roman 
world,  and  subsequently  to  the  rough,  inquisitive  Saxon 
invaders,  allowed  of  the  direct  transmission  of  such  tales ;  and 
the  enlightenment  of  Britain  was  never  so  great  as  to  preclude 
a  widespread  belief  in  them  as  fragments  of  genuine  history. 
Among  the  Britons  the  power  of  Roman  arms  and  the 
prescience  of  Roman  statesmanship  were  exemplified  at  the 
farthest  remove  from  the  centre  of  authority.  There  was 
ample  occasion  for  inquiry  as  to  the  means  by  which  the  empire 
maintained  its  supremacy,  while  the  eagerness  to  obtain  the 
desired  knowledge  was  tempered  with  little  or  no  skill  to 
discriminate  between  truth  and  fiction.  Attributing  the 
Salvatio  Roin(e  in  its  crudest  traditional  form  to  the  Roman 
soldiers,  garrisoned  among  a  people  easily  affected  by  mystery 
and  credulous  to  an  extreme,  a  motive  is  found  for  the  tale 
such  as  cannot  readily  be  furnished  by  any  other  hypothesis. 
The  oriental  element  in  the  tradition  is  accounted  for  with  less 


THE  SAVIOUR   OF  BO  ME  117 

difficulty  in  this  than  in  any  other  way.  A  more  cosmopolitan 
body  of  men  never  existed  than  the  officers  and  veterans  of  the 
Roman  armies.  They  became  familiar  in  their  campaigns  with 
the  customs  of  the  most  widely  separated  races.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  they  transported  elephants  to  Britain*  for  the 
purpose  of  repeating  the  tactics  which  they  learned  in  Asia,  it 
will  be  readily  believed  that  the  folk-lore  of  the  East  was  used 
to  enliven  the  routine  of  their  lives  in  camp,  and  drawn  upon 
to  magnify  the  name  of  Rome  in  the  ears  of  ignorant  bar- 
barians. They  might  even  have  had  examples  of  such  tales  in 
that  mass  of  fiction  written  for  their  use,  Avhich  corresponded 
in  quality  and  variety  to  the  modern  novel.  The  fragments 
still  in  existence  of  this  Milesian  literature  show  that  its 
inspiration  was  largely  oriental,  and  that  its  interest  depended 
upon  the  belief  in  magic.  Now,  from  the  final  abandonment 
of  the  island  of  Britain  by  the  troops  of  the  empire  to  the 
first  invasion  by  the  Saxons  there  intervened  a  period  of  only 
forty  years,  and  within  the  three  centuries  next  following  the 
victors  attained  a  civilization  equal  to  that  which  they 
supplanted.  The  opinion  that  the  Saxons  extirpated  the  Celts 
in  taking  possession  of  the  country  is  not  now  considered 
tenable;  the  fact  being  that  during  years  of  stubborn  war 
the  two  races  became  fused  gradually  into  one.  The  Celtic 
individual  traits  tended  to  soften  the  rugged  Teutonic  person- 
ality, while  the  British  language,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
words,  was  replaced  by  the  more  useful,  though  less  poetic, 
speech  of  the  conquerors.  Therefore,  from  the  Roman  govern- 
ment down  to  the  time  when  stories  like  the  one  in  question 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been  picked  up  by  the  early  mediseval 

*So  says  Polyaenus  [Stratayemata,  viii.,  23,  5],  but  the  argument  in 
the  text  does  not  depend  on  what  is  at  the  best  a  doubtful  anecdote. 


118  MAcTEB   VI B GIL 

writers,  the  chain  of  communication  by  which  they  could  have 
passed  from  race  to  race,  and  from  one  generation  to  the  next, 
was  as  complete  as  in  any  case  of  folk-lore  transmission. 

An  example  that  may  be  cited  as  an  instance  of  the  handing 
down  of  such  legends  is  preserved  in  the  treatise  of  Roger 
Bacon  on  multiplying  and  magnifying  glasses.  The  passage 
is  not  unknown,  though  it  has  been  misinterpreted  sometimes 
to  support  the  inference  that  Bacon  invented  lenses.  What  he 
really  intimates  is,  that  the  invention  was  one  of  ancient 
times,  well  known  to  the  learned.  Mirrors,  he  saiil,  could  be 
made  of  such  a  figure  that  they  would  cause  one  thing  to  seem 
to  be  many,  and  multiply  a  single  man  till  he  appeared  to  be 
an  army ;  that  would  cause  to  appear  as  many  suns  and  moons 
as  were  desired.  And  so,  he  says,  infinite  terrors  could  be 
roused  in  the  imaginations  of  an  enemy's  army,  so  that,  on 
account  of  the  multiplication  of  the  apparitions  of  stars  or  of 
men  congregated  over  them,  they  would  give  themselves  up  to 
despair.  Perspective  glasses  might  be  so  made  as  to  cause  that 
which  was  far  away  to  seem  near,  or  conversely ;  so  that  one  might 
read  the  most  minute  letters  at  an  incredible  distance,  and  misrht 
enumerate  even  the  smallest  things,  and  make  the  stars  to 
appear  when  he  wished.  With  this  remarkable  statement, 
antedating  the  jiroper  discovery  of  the  telescope  by  centuries, 
he  couples  this  strange  anecdote:  "For  thus  it  is  supposed 
that  Julius  Caesar,  standing  on  the  shores  of  the  sea  in  Gaul, 
perceived  by  means  of  a  great  glass  the  position  of  the  camps 
and  cities  of  the  Greater  Britain."  It  hardly  admits  of  a 
doubt  that  here  Bacon  applied  to  a  tradition  well  known  and 
widely  credited,  his  own  interpretation,  drawn  from  his 
knowledge  of  optics.  Manifestly,  this  tradition  involved  to 
minds  less  enlightened  than  Bacon's  the  notion  of  magic.     If 


TEE  SA  no  UR  OF  BO  ME  119 

such  a  legend  descended  iu  one  case,  it  might  have  been 
handed  down  in  other  cases.  The  fact  that  the  story  of  the 
magic  temple  and  statues  at  Rome  was  known  as  early  as  the 
eighth  century  to  writers  in  widely  separated  regions  supports 
the  theory  of  its  remote  antiquity.  Not  only  was  it  mentioned 
iu  a  fragment  on  the  wonders  of  the  world,  the  authorship  of 
which  was  attributed  to  Bede,  but  it  was  also  related  iu  a 
chapter  on  the  same  subject  by  the  Greek  historian  Cosma, 
who  seems  to  have  identified  the  magical  temple  with  the 
Capitol,  or  with  the  Temple  of  Jove,  and  to  have  associated  it 
with  the  familiar  anecdote  of  Manlius.  That  is  to  say,  he 
expressed  substantially  the  idea  which  Virgil  had  suggested  in 
describing  the  shield  of  ^^neas.  It  was  in  this  form  probably 
that  the  story  was  circulated  among  the  eastern  nations,  for 
there  is  among  the  Arabian  tales  one  of  striking  similarity,  the 
upshot  of  which  is  that  King  Sarkaaf  made  a  duck  of  brass 
and  placed  it  on  a  column  of  emerald  at  the  gate  of  his  capital 
city.  This  duck  was  gifted  with  magical  shrewdness  and 
perspicacity,  for,  whenever  a  foreigner  attempted  to  enter  the 
city,  it  fluttered  its  wings  and  raised  so  great  an  outcry  that 
the  people  were  at  once  drawn  to  repel  the  intruder. 

II 

When  it  is  attempted  to  account  for  the  introduction  of  • 
Virgil's  name  into  the  legend  the  most  important  consideration 
seems  to  be  the  abiding  fame  of  the  ^neid  as  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  military  renown  of  the  empire.  With  the 
single  exception  of  Virgil,  the  Romans  who,  in  the  middle 
ages,  became  the  centre  of  massive  or  imposing  legends  were 
such  men  as  Csesar,  Pompey,  Trajan,  Nero,  Crassus — names 


120  MASTER   VIRGIL 

brilliant  in  the  annals  of  Roman  arms  or  infamous  in  crime. 
These  names  were  the  ones  most  likely  to  have  been  preserved 
in  tradition.  That  the  Romans,  in  a  time  of  general  ignorance 
and  barbarism,  would  no  longer  be  able  to  give  a  historic 
reason  for  the  existence  of  many  monuments  in  their  city,  and 
would  accept,  perhaps,  without  question  legends  respecting 
them  that  had  passed  through  many  changes  in  other  lands, 
may  be  readily  believed.  The  mass  of  historic  reminiscence 
in  Rome  was  so  great  that  the  knowledge  of  the  true  name 
and  meaning  of  each  relic  would  have  required  learning  far 
in  excess  of  Avhat  has  been  shown  by  the  population  of  any 
city.  Pride  in  the  Roman  name  and  in  the  great  deeds  of  the 
olden  time  Avas  never  Avanting ;  but  the  memory  of  particular 
facts  would  be  clouded  at  the  best.  The  foreigners  Avho  visited 
Rome  went  with  minds  fresh  from  a  new  civilization  and  full 
to  overfloAving  of  the  legendary  spirit.  They  Avere  ignorant 
of  the  possibilities  belonging  to  a  civilization  like  that  Avhich 
Rome  had  possessed.  The  majestic  remains  of  the  imperial 
city  suggested  thoughts  of  magic.  Those  Avho  A'iewed  these 
remainsonly  through  the  eye  of  the  imagination,  taking  the  exag- 
gerated narratives  of  travellers,  reproduced  them  in  forms  that 
lacked  the  merit  even  of  topographical  accuracy,  but  were  rich 
in  those  Avonders  so  delightful  to  the  medieval  fancy.  The 
Romans  in  their  turn  received  back  these  tales,  magnified  in 
proportion  to  the  distance  over  Avhich  they  had  been  carried, 
and  referred  them  to  things  that  Avere  actually  in  existence. 
So  it  fell  out  that  one  of  the  objects  to  be  seen  in  Rome  Avas 
the  tomb  of  Pallas,  the  son  of  EA-andcr,  a  hero  who  possibly 
never  lived  outside  the  pages  of  the  ^Eneid,  The  actual 
presence  of  a  votive  ship  accorded  Avith  the  fables  relative  to 
^neas  and  made  it  easy  to  suppose  that  the  very  vessel  had 


THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ROME  121 

been  preserved  in  which  he  voyaged  to  Latium.  The  tale  of 
Trajan  and  the  poor  widow  was  told  in  another  form  before 
the  name  of  Trajan  was  brought  into  it.  His  association  with 
it  was  probably  due  to  some  sculpture  in  which  he  was  rep- 
resented on  horseback,  while  the  woman  kneeling  before  him 
was  the  symbol  of  some  conquered  province.  In  this  case,  as 
in  the  more  important  one  of  Virgil's  magical  temple,  the 
addition  of  a  famous  name  to  a  story  already  familiar  seems 
like  the  artifice  of  a  writer  studying  to  produce  an  effect. 
This  suspicion  is  strengthened,  rather  than  otherwise,  by  the 
knowledge  that  Alexander  Neckam  was  the  first  among  authors 
whose  works  remain  to  couple  Virgil's  name  with  the  Salvatio 
Romce.  For  Neckam,  according  to  Roger  Bacon,  was  a  man 
who  cared  too  little  for  the  truth  and  too  much  for  the  empty 
■^l^ow  of  erudition.  Mere  novelty  afiected  him  as  a  genuine 
discovery  would  have  impressed  a  more  conscientious  thinker. 
He  was  not  above  writing  paradoxical  or  incredible  things 
with*  the  sole  and  trivial  purpose  of  startling  his  readers. 
While  he  may  have  owed  the  particular  figment  now  under 
discussion  to  those  wandering  story  tellers  who  were  so  fertile 
in  those  things,  yet  it  seems  not  less  probable  that  he  set  forth 
au  invention  of  his  own.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  with  his  loose 
habit  of  mind  he  may  have  satisfied  himself  with  some  reason- 
ing like  this :  Granted  that  there  was  a  temple  at  Rome  of  the 
kind  described,  then  the  proficiency  of  Virgil  in  mathematics 
renders  it  certain  that  he  only  was  capable  of  building  that 
temple ;  ergo,  he  did  build  it.  If  Neckam  had  authority 
outside  of  his  own  erratic  mind  for  this  addition  to  the  list 
of  Virgil's  achievements,  it  is  strange  that  he  should  have 
related  it  without  the  name  of  the  poet  in  his  own  poem  de 
Laudihus  Divirue  Sapientice.     If  Virgil's  supposed  connection 


122  MAS  TEE    VIE  GIL 

with  the  story  had  been  a  subject  of  frequent,  or  even  of 
occasional  narratives,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  it  could  have 
escaped  the  author  of  the  Dolopathos  who  attributed  the  origin 
of  a  temple,  not  unlike  that  which  Neckam  described,  to 
Romulus,  though  confessedly  wT-iting  a  tale  in  which  the  figure 
of  Virgil  was  most  prominent.  Moreover,  allusion  to  this 
temple  without  the  name  of  Virgil  was  frequent.  It  is  men- 
tioned in  a  manuscript  preserved  at  Wesobrunn  which  was 
written  in  the  tenth  century;  in  the  work  of  an  anonymous 
author  of  Salerno,  belonging  to  the  same  period,  and  in  a 
Vatican  manuscript  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  was  touched 
upon,  also,  in  the  Mirabilia  Urbis  Romce,  the  guide-book  which 
passed  through  many  changes  in  the  successive  editions  that 
were  given  out  by  the  copyists,  but  was  certainly  known 
in  the  twelfth  century.  Many  works  in  later  ages  contained 
references  to  the  legend  without  the  name  of  Virgil,  the 
omission  being  due  in  some  cases  to  the  lack  of  acquaint- 
ance with  all  the  phases  through  which  the  narrative  had 
passed,  and  in  others  to  a  distaste  for  such  a  use  of  Virgil's 
name.  Another  fact  which  contributes  in  a  small  degree 
to  fasten  the  invention  upon  Neckam  is  that  he  is  quoted 
as  the  authority  for  the  story  in  the  Gesta  Romanorum,  the 
inference  being  that  the  copyist  knew  of  none  earlier  than 
he  was. 

The  anonymous  author  of  Salerno,  iu  the  effort  to  explain 
how  it  hai)pened  that  the  temple  with  its  extraordinary  collec- 
tion of  statues  was  uo  longer  to  be  seen,  invented  or  copied  a 
story  much  more  picturesque  than  Neckam's  report  of  a 
prophecy  fulfilled.  He  declared  that  the  statues  had  been 
carried  to  Byzantium  early  in  the  tenth  century.  On  account 
of  their  magical   efficacy  the  Emperor  Alexander  had   them 


I 


THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ROME  123 

clothed  in  garments  of  silk,*  and  became  excessively  proud  of 
his  achievement  in  depriving  the  Romans  of  their  chief  pro- 
tection. But  one  night  St.  Peter  appeared  to  him,  exclaiming 
in  anger,  "I  am  the  prince  of  the  Romans,"  and  the  next  day 
the  emperor  died. 


Ill 


In  the  work  attributed  by  Neckam,  and  after  him  by 
Helinand,  to  the  skill  of  Virgil,  which  was  known  subsequently 
by  the  name  of  the  Salvatio  Bomce,  there  is  apparent  a  mingling 
^f  vague  reminiscences  of  the  Pantheon,  the  Coliseum,  the 
OSitol,  !hid  the  theatre  of  Pompey  with  its  statues  of  the 
conquered  nations  of  the  empire,  the  whole  shaped  by  a 
superstitious  notion  concerning  the  vigilance  necessary  in  so 
vast  a  rulership  as  that  of  Rome  had  been.  The  French 
romancers,  whose  tales  were  permeated  with  ideas  obtained 
from  the  East  after  the  return  of  the  early  crusaders,  replaced 
the  truly  antique  wooden  statues  of  Neckam  with  a  mirror 
that  possessed  magical  properties.  A  mirror  of  this  kind  was 
said  by  Benjamin  of  Tudela  to  have  been  placed  on  the 
Pharos  of  Alexandria.  It  revealed  the  approach  of  a  hostile 
fleet,  even  at  a  distance  of  five  hundred  parasangs.  This 
marvellous  instrument  was  destroyed  by  a  cunning  Greek  who 
hated  the  Egyptians.  With  chniii'-es  in  detail  the  story  of 
the  mirror  at  Rome  is  the  same  as  the  Alexandrian  tale. 
Manifestly  both  are  due  ultimately  to  an  exaggerated  report 
concerning  Greek  discoveries  in  physics.  In  the  Cleomades  of 
Adenez,  written  about   the  close  of  the    thirteenth   century, 

*The  practice  of  clothing  statues  was  not  unknown  in   the  middle 
ages,  as  is  shown  in  the  poem  of  Filo  preserved  by  Leyser. 


124  MASTER   VIROIL 

and  the  Renars  Contrefait,  which  belonged  to  the  early  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  in  The  Romance  of  ilie  Seven 
Wise  Men,  at  that  time,  in  various  forms  and  different 
languages,  the  most  popular  book  in  Europe,  the  Roman 
wonder  was  ascribed  to  Virgil.  But  there  was  no  universal 
agreement  on  this  point.  Frequently  enough  no  attempt  was 
made  to  account  for  the  building  of  the  tower  and  the  mirror, 
while  the  narrative  of  their  fall  was  essentially  the  same  in  all 
cases.  In  one  example,  where  the  name  of  Virgil  was  not 
mentioned,  the  tower  on  which  the  mirror  stood  was  called  the 
Tower  of  the  Tribune.  Crassus,  whose  wealth  and  avarice 
and  disgraceful  death  strongly  affected  the  imagination  of  the 
middle  ages,  was  said  to  have  been  the  emperor  who  Caused  the 
ruin  of  the  Roman  power.  He  was  visited  by  two  brothers  who 
called  themselves  prophets  and  dreamers  of  dreams,  but  who 
plotted  the  destruction  of  the  empire.  They  led  the  miserly 
emperor  to  believe  that  a  great  treasure  was  hidden  beneath 
the  tower.  They  were  permitted  to  undermine  the  foundations 
of  the  structure,  and  thus  caused  it  to  fall.*  The  narrative  is 
so  particular  in  its  details  as  to  lead  to  the  suspicion  that  it  was 
based  on  an  actual  though  comparatively  modern  occurrence. 
The  so-called  Tower  of  the  Tribune,  for  example,  was  said  to 
be  covered  with  inscriptions  celebrating  the  names  and  deeds  of 
all  who  had  achieved  anything  of  importance  for  the  city. 
This  characteristic  element  in  the  tale  may  be  illustrated  by  a 

®The  superstition,  of  which  this  anecdote  is  an  example,  is  not 
wanting  at  the  present  day.  In  October,  1884,  died  at  Paris  Madame 
Cailhava,  who  had  become  notorious  by  her  persistent  efforts  to  dis- 
cover hidden  treasure  in  the  Church  of  St.  Denis.  The  French 
authorities,  exactly  like  the  Crassus  of  the  legend,  authorized  her 
crazy  search  which  really  imperilled  the  structure.  The  dean  of  the 
chapter  put  an  end  to  her  excavations. 


THE  SAVIOUR   OF  ROME  125 

singular  incident  which  Flaminius  Vacca,  a  Roman  archaeolo- 
gist of  the  sixteenth  century,  narrated.  In  the  time  of  Pius 
IV.,  according  to  Flaminius,  there  appeared  in  Rome  a 
foreigner  who  had  in  his  possession  an  ancient  book  containing 
a  treatise  on  the  manner  of  finding  hidden  treasure.  This 
book  had  also  a  picture  of  an  antique  bas-relief,  representing  a 
serpent  and  human  figure.  The  latter  held  a  cornucopia  in 
one  hand  and  with  the  other  pointed  to  the  earth.  After  a 
diligent  search  in  the  ruins  of  the  city,  the  stranger  found  the 
original  of  this  picture.  It  was  upon  the  base  of  the  Arch  of 
Titus.  Pius  responded  to  the  man's  petition  for  the  pri\Tlege 
of  digging  beneath  the  side  of  the  arch,  by  explaining  that  the 
monument  was  the  property  of  the  Roman  people  whose 
permission  must  be  sought.  The  popular  consent  was 
obtained,  and  the  treasure  hunter  carried  on  his  excavations 
until  he  laid  open  the  entrance  to  a  subterranean  passage,  the 
existence  of  which  was  unknown.  But  the  populace,  fearing 
that  he  purposed  to  destroy  the  arch,  rose  in  a  tumult  and 
drove  him  from  the  city.  When  it  is  remembered  how  slight 
the  occasion  was  for  the  extraordinary  narrative  of  Gervase, 
concerning  the  discovery  of  Virgil's  book  on  the  ars  notoria,  it 
will  be  readily  imagined  that  the  incentives  would  be  frequent 
for  the  invention  of  tales  concerning  hidden  treasures. 

In  the  tale  connected  with  Virgil's  name,  differing  through 
all  its  changes  but  little  from  the  account  as  first  given  in  The 
Seven  Wise  Men,  the  king  of  some  subject  nation — Hungarian, 
Carthaginian,  German  or  Apulian — is  represented  as  unwilling 
longer  to  pay  tribute  to  Rome.  In  order  to  evade  the  tax 
he  accepts  the  offer  made  to  him  by  three  wise  men,  who 
promise  to  overthrow  the  tower  on  which  the  magic  mirror  is 
placed.     The  conspirators  go  to  Rome,  and  begin  their  work 


126  MAS  TEE    VIRGIL 

by  burying  in  several  places  large  coffers  full  of  gold.  The 
emperor,  who  is  sometimes,  but  not  always,  called  Crassus, 
eager  to  be  enriched,  allows  them  to  dig  in  the  places  which 
they  point  out.  Their  success  in  finding  what  they  themselves 
have  hidden  persuades  the  emperor  to  allow  the  search  beneath 
the  tower.  The  greatest  anxiety  is  pi-etended  for  the  safety  of 
the  pi;ecious  palladium  of  Rome.  Wooden  props  are  placed 
underneath  the  tower.  Taking  advantage  of  the  night,  the 
conspirators  set  fire  to  these  props  and  then  flee  ;  but  at  a  safe 
distance  stop  to  see  the  tower  and  mirror  fall.  The  Romans, 
indignant  that  this  calamity  should  have  come  upon  them 
through  the  avarice  of  the  emperor,  pour  molten  gold  down 
his  throat,  and  thus  he  dies.  Virgil's  only  connection  with 
the  story  is  as  the  architect  of  the  wonderful  structure. 


IV 


While  the  romancers  excluded  the  statues  from  this  magical 
temple  or  tower,  which  was  attributed  to  the  arts  of  Virgil, 
they  were  careful  not  to  forget  them  altogether.  The  notions 
of  the  mysterious  efficacy  of  images  had  materially  changed 
under  the  power  of  a  religion  in  which  idols  as  symbols  of  the 
deity  were  rigorously  excluded  from  worship.  Over  this 
popular  tendency  the  antiquarian  fancies  of  Neckam  had  less 
influence  than  was  exercised  by  the  common  superstitions  in 
matters  of  physical  science.  In  these  the  mirrors  held  a  high 
place.  It  was,  however,  the  common  belief,  both  in  the  Orient, 
as  is  shown  by  many  Arabian  and  Persian  tales,  and  ia  Europe, 
that  statues  could  be  made  with  unlimited  automatic  powers. 
This  fanciful  belief  was  Avhat  gave  vitality  to  some  tales,  the  very 
existence   of    which    would    otherwise    be    incredible.      For 


THE  SA  VI 0  UB  OF  ROME  127 

example,  Adenez  related  that  Virgil  placed  ou  the  walls  of  the 
city  four  statues  in  the  attitude  of  ball-players.  These  statues 
represented  respectively  Spring,  Summer,  Autumn  and 
Winter.  They  had  a  golden  ball.  Spring,  wlien  his  reign 
was  ended,  tossed  the  ball  to  Summer,  and  so  H  went  the  year 
round.  The  early  Romance  of  the  Seven  Sages,  in  i^lace  of 
these  had  two  statues  which  determined  the  weeks  by  passing 
a  ball  back  and  forth  between  them.  Jean  d'Outremeuse,  in 
Ly  Myreur  des  Histors,  included  all  these,  and  added  twelve 
others,  whose  office  it  was  to  keep  the  people  informed  of  the 
passage  of  the  months.  This  group  of  twelve  statues  was  also 
mentioned  by  Jean  Mansel  in  La  Fleur  des  Sistoires.  In  the 
English  version  of  the  biography  of  Virgilius,  the  magician, 
there  is  a  manifest  desire  to  blend  the  popular  story  as  told  in 
the  early  romances  with  the  more  learned  imaginings  of  the 
twelfth  century.  While  the  catastrophe  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  tale  in  the  Seven  Wise  Men,  the  temple  itself  is  much  nearer 
the  possiliilities  of  history.  The  description  of  John 
Doesborcke  was  thus : 

"The  emperour  asked  of  Virgilius  howe  that  he  myght 
make  Rome  prospere,  and  have  many  lands  under  them,  and 
know  when  any  lande  wolde  ryse  agen  theym ;  and  Virgilius 
sayd  to  the  Emperoure,  I  woll  within  short  space  that  do. 
And  he  made  upon  the  Capitolium,  that  was  the  towne  house, 
made  with  caruede  ymages,  and  of  stone,  and  that  he  let  call 
Salvatio  Rome;  that  is  to  say,  this  is  the  Salvacyon  of  the 
cytie  of  Rome ;  and  he  made  in  the  compace  all  the  goddes 
that  we  call  mamettes  and  ydolles,  that  were  under  the 
subjection  of  Rome ;  and  every  of  the  goddes  that  there  were 
had  in  his  hand  a  bell ;  and  in  the  myddle  of  the  godes  made 
he  one  god  of  Rome.     And  whensoever  that  there  was  any 


128  MASTER   VIRGIL 

land  wold  make  any  warre  ageynst  Rome,  than  wolde  the 
godes  tourne  theyr  backes  towarde  the  god  of  Rome ;  and  than 
the  god  of  the  land  that  wolde  stande  up  ageyne  Rome  . 
clynked  his  bell  so  longe  that  he  hath  in  his  hand,  tyll  the 
senatours  of  Rome  hereth  it,  and  forthwith  they  go  there  and 
see  what  land  it  is  that  will  warre  ageynst  them ;  and  so  they 
prepare  them,  and  goeth  agayn  them,  and  subdueth  theym." 
When  the  author  of  this  biography  came  to  describe  the 
death  of  Virgil,  he  became  more  explicit  in  his  description 
of  automatic  images.  If  any  proof  were  required  that 
ingenious  mechanical  devices  in  those  days  were  knowingly 
and  intentionally  confounded  with  alleged  inventions  of  magic, 
it  would  certainly  be  found  in  the  account  of  the  castle  which 
Virgil  built,  as  a  place  where  he  might  make  himself  young 
again.  There  was  one  entrance  only  to  this  stronghold,  and 
that  was  guarded  by  twenty-four  figures  twelve  in  a  row  on 
each  side  of  the  way.  Each  figure  was  armed  with  a  flail. 
They  Avere  so  made  that  when  in  motion  they  beat  the  ground 
steadily,  like  so  many  threshers.  But  at  the  side  of  the 
doorway,  both  without  and  within  the  castle,  there  were 
"vyces,"  which  only  needed  to  be  turned  to  stop  all  this 
machinery,  and  to  set  it  going.  A  series  of  accidents 
prevented  Virgil's  rejuvenation,  which  was  to  have  come  about 
much  in  the  manner  of  the  antique  Greek  trick  of  which 
Pelias  was  the  victim.  When  it  became  certain  that 
Virgil  was  dead,  beyond  hope  of  resurrection,  there  were 
some  covetous  souls  who  thought  only  of  securing  his  treasure ; 
"but  thei-e  were  none  so  harday  that  durste  cum  in  to  fetche 
it,  for  fere  of  the  coper  men  that  smote  so  faste  with  theyr 
yron  flayles."  It  hardly  requires  to  be  pointed  out  that  the 
misconception   which    made    these    statues  seem   possible  in 


THE  SA  VI 0  UR  OF  ROME  129 

mechanism  related  to  a  department  of  science  entirely  different 
from  that  falsified  in  the  talisman.  The  mathematical  or 
metaphysical  moment  which  gave  to  the  bronze  fly,  and  the 
leech  and  the  statue  over  against  Vesuvius,  an  air  of  credibility, 
was  insufficient  at  a  later  day,  when  motion  and  the  imitation 
of  living  beings  was  required  of  these  inanimate  things. 
Unconsciously,  great  progress  had  been  made  toward  true 
science  between  the  time  of  Gervase  and  that  of  Doesborcke ; 
on  the  one  hand,  machinery  and  motion  had  come  to  be  looked 
on  as  necessary,  and  on  the  other,  the  achievements  that  were 
attributed  to  the  moving  figures  were  of  far  less  importance 
than  those  which  had  once  been  predicated  of  mere  solid 
shapes  in  metal  and  wood.  In  the  one  case,  whole  realms  of 
nature  were  dominated  by  things  whose  efficacy  was  a  matter 
of  belief  and  nothing  else ;  in  the  other,  known  laws  of  i3hysics 
were  misapplied,  because  the  human  imagination  was  only 
partially  released  from  the  slavery  of  magic. 


The  abiding  popularity  of  the  legend  respecting  the  wonder 
ful  statues  and  temple  at  Rome  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it 
continued  to  have  a  place  in  the  frequent  editions  of  the 
English  chap  boOkj  The  Seven  Wise  Masters,  as  late  as  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  The  episode,  called  in  this 
cheap  pamphlet  "The  fifth  example  of  the  empress,"  is  so  full 
of  error  and  absurdity  as  to  be  positively  humorous.  Its  naive 
mixing  up  of  antique  and  modern  things  make  it  well  worthy 
of  being  copied  here.     It  is  as  follows : 

"There  reigned  in  Rome  an  emperor  named  Octavius,  who 
was  very  rich,  and  loved  gold  above  all  things.     In  his  reign 


130  MASTER    VIRGIL 

the  Romans  committed  many  hostilities  upon  the  neighboring 
nations,  insomuch  that  they  entered  into  an  alliance  against 
the  Romans  for  their  preservation,  and  that  which  occasioned 
their  reducing  other  nations  to  obedience  was  by  the  con- 
trivance of  one  Virgil,  who  was  a  great  magician,  so  that  if 
any  people  offered  to  rebel  it  was  immediately  discovered  to 
them.  The  story  says  that  he  made  a  tower  wherein  were  as 
many  images  as  there  are  kingdoms  in  the  world,  and  in  the  head 
of  every  image  he  put  a  bell,  so  that  if  any  nation  designed  to 
invade  the  Romans  the  image  of  that  province  would  ring  his 
bell,  which  the  citizens  of  Rome  hearing,  armed  themselves 
immediately  and  attacked  their  adversaries;  so  that  the 
Romans  were  dreaded  throughout  the  world.  He  also  made 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  a  fire  which  yielded  so  great  a  heat 
that  they  came  commonly  to  it,  and  thereby  saved  the  expense 
of  a  fire  in  their  own  houses ;  opposite  to  this  fire  was  placed 
a  great  statue  of  brass,  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  Turkish 
bow,  which  was  drawn  Avith  his  right  hand  ready  to  let  fly, 
and  on  the  bow  was  written, 

Touch  me  not,  for,  if  you  do, 
You  will  create  a  deal  of  wo. 

"The  image  stood  there  many  years,  but  at  last  a  drunken 
scholar,  looking  upon  the  writing,  imagined  that  there  was 
under  it  great  treasure,  and  that  the  superscription  was  only 
to  frighten  people  from  taking  it;  whereupon  he  gave  the 
image  such  a  blow  that  it  fell  to  the  ground  and  immediately 
the  fire  was  extinguished,  and  the  place  became  as  cold  as  if 
there  had  never  been  any  fire  there.  At  which  the  scholar 
was  amazed  and  ran  away,  having  deprived  the  city  of  one 
of  its  greatest  commodities,  and  the  poor  inhabitants  cursed 
him  for  it.     After  this,  three  kings,  who  had  suffered  much 


THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ROME  131 

by  the  Romans,  consulted  how  to  avenge  themselves  for  it; 
but  one  made  answer  that  it  was  in  vain  to  attempt  it  so  long 
as  the  tower  images  subsisted.  Upon  this  up  start  three  wise 
masters  and  told  them  that  they  would  undertake  to  destroy 
the  tower  and  the  images.  The  kings  demanding  what  the 
cost  would  be,  they  replied  three  tons  of  gold.  The  masters 
then  made  choice  of  three  vessels,  one  of  earth,  another  of 
brass,  and  a  third  of  silver,  and  filled  them  Avith  gold  and 
departed  for  Rome,  in  a  frigate,  where,  being  landed,  they 
went  near  the  city  and  buried  one  of  the  vessels,  which  they 
took  notice  of;  then  going  into  the  city,  they  buried  the  other 
two  near  to  the  principal  church  of  the  city.  This  done,  they 
agreed  how  they  should  accomplish  their  design.  After  this 
manner  they  effected  it.  They  went  one  morning  to  Octavius, 
and  having  demanded  audience,  they  told  him  they  were  three 
brethren  skilled  in  magic,  and  had  it  revealed  to  them  that  the 
city  of  Rome  abounded  in  hidden  treasure,  and  they  were 
come  thither  to  discover  it;  first  having  the  permission  of  his 
majesty,  promising  to  give  him  all  they  found,  and  that  he 
might  bestow  on  them  what  part  he  pleased.  The  emperor, 
glad  to  hear  this  news,  immediately  granted  their  request ;  and 
as  he  was  going  to  bed,  they  said:  'My  Lord,  this  night,  the 
eldest  of  vis  will  have  a  vision,  or  dream,  and  the  third  day  he 
shall  shew  you  what  it  signifies.'  And  when  the  third  day 
was  come,  he  went  to  the  emperor  and  said:  'A  treasure 
will  be  discovered  to  us  this  morning  without  the  city, 
and  since  we  find  treasure  without  the  city,  we  may 
well  expect  to  find  greater  within  it.'  The  emperor,  joyful 
at  what  the  dreamer  said,  told  him  that  he  would  go  with 
them  to  see  the  issue  of  the  business.  Away  they  went 
to  the  place  where  the  treasure  was  hidden ;  when  the  master 


132  MASTER   V IB  GIL 

took  an  astrolabe  and  quadrant  to  find  exactly  where  the 
treasure  was,  and  having  diligently  measured  the  ground,  he 
bid  them  dig,  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  discovered  a 
vessel,  which  the  emperor  seeing,  he  himself  would  take  it 
up ;  and  finding  it  to  be  as  the  master  had  said,  he  returned  to 
the  place,  giving  a  great  reward  to  the  master,  hoping  in  a 
little  while  by  their  means  to  be  master  of  a  mine  of  gold. 
The  next  morning  another  of  them  told  the  emperor  that  he 
had  seen  a  vision,  and  that  in  the  city  they  should  find  treasure, 
twice  as  much  as  they  found  the  day  before ;  and  accordingly 
he  ordered  one  to  dig  near  the  tower  where  they  had  buried 
the  other  gold,  and  after  digging  awhile  they  discovered  two 
vessels,  both  filled  with  gold.  This  so  increased  the  aflfection 
of  the  emperor  towards  the  masters  that  he  did  nothing  with- 
out their  advice,  and,  having  given  them  a  great  reward,  was 
in  great  expectation  to  see  the  effects  of  the  third  master's 
vision.  Accordingly  next  morning  he  went  in  to  the  emperor 
and  told  him  that  not  far  from  hence  he  had  seen  a  treasure 
in  his  vision  much  richer  than  both  the  others,  and  the  place 
where  it  lay  was  six  hundred  yards  from  the  palace,  and  then 
by  the  astrolabe  and  quadrant,  he  measured  the  ground  and 
found  that  it  lay  just  under  the  foundations  of  the  tower 
where  the  images  and  statue  were  placed.  The  emperor  at 
this  was  a  little  startled,  saying:  'God  forbid  that  I  should, 
for  the  love  of  gold,  destroy  the  tower  which  may  truly  be 
said  to  be  the  property  of  the  Roman  Empire.'  The  master 
answered  that  it  would  be  great  imprudence  to  hazard  so  rich 
and  excellent  a  treasure  as  the  tower  was,  only  to  gain  another 
lesser  treasure  that  was  hidden  in  the  earth  ;  but  if  it  might 
be  obtained  without  damaging  the  tower,  then  it  would  be 
indiscretion  to  let  it  lie  there ;    'And  I  dare  undertake,'  said 


THE  SAVIOUR   OF  EOME  133 

he,  'to  dig  under  the  foundation  without  the  least  prejudice  in 
the  world  to  the  tower.'  The  emperor  hearing  this,  was  over- 
joyed, and  in  the  night  they  were  let  into  the  tower,  which, 
with  the  utmost  expedition  and  diligence,  they  undermined, 
and  early  in  the  morning  mounted  their  horses  and  rode  away 
to  their  own  country,  and  before  they  were  all  out  of  the  city 
of  Rome  the  tower  fell  down,  and  tnus  by  the  villainy  of 
these  three  masters  was  the  wonder  of  the  world  and  the  prop 
of  Rome  destroyed.  The  senators  in  great  consternation  go  to 
the  emperor  to  know  the  reason  of  the  tower's  being  destroyed, 
who  answered :  'Three  treacherous  wise  masters,  pretending  to 
be  soothsayers,  persuaded  me  that  a  prodigious  quantity  of 
gold  was  hid  under  the  foundation,  which  they  would  discover 
without  any  hurt  to  the  tower  or  the  statues,  and  they  have 
deceived  me.'  These  masters  returning  home  were  received 
with  joy  and  greatly  rewarded,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
enemy  came  against  the  Romans  and  took  the  city,  and  the 
Emperor  Octavius  had  hardly  the  liberty  to  make  his  escape, 
who  from  being  a  powerful  prince  was  reduced  to  turn  school- 
master   and  teach  publicly  in  the  island  of  Merlin." 


SEVEN TR— VIRGIL,    THE  LOVER 


That  the  character  of  Virgil,  the  magician,  came  to  be 
looked  on — like  that  of  the  devil  in  the  mysteries — as  one  to 
be  made  ludicrous,  is  shown  in  the  development  of  the  only- 
tale  in  which  he  figured  as  a  lover.  There  is  no  written  report 
nor  tradition  that  warrants  the  applying  of  this  absurd 
mediaeval  invention  to  Virgil.  Nothing  that  has  descended 
from  antique  times  casts  any  light  upon  the  privacy  of  Virgil's 
life  in  a  matter  respecting  which  the  Romans  as  a  rule  were 
not  overdelicate.  Suetonius,  perhaps,  and  Apuleius  and  other 
scandal-mongers  of  the  early  centuries,  gave  currency  to  an 
accusation  that  Virgil  was  guilty  of  a  crime  not  only  against 
modesty  but  against  reason.  Apuleius,  in  particular,  used  the 
anecdote  to  excuse  his  own  evil  practices  of  which  he  made  no 
secret.  But  beyond  the  very  dubious  testimony  of  these 
writers,  and  an  inference  drawn  from  one  of  Virgil's  poems, 
there  is  nothing  to  countenance  the  libel.  There  is  no  more 
self-accusation  in  the  Alexia  than  in  the  Religio  Medici,  the 
author  of  which  could  say  that  at  the  age  of  thirty  he  had 
never  yet  been  drawn  by  the  love  of  woman,  though  he  loved 


THE  L  0  VER  135 

his  friend  as  he  did  his  soul  or  his  God.  One  who  can  misin- 
terpret such  expressions  simply  exposes  the  mark  of  the  beast 
in  his  own  forehead.  His  words  prove  nothing  except  against 
himself.  While  Virgil's  relations  with  women  are  unknown, 
his  disposition  toward  them  as  evinced  in  his  portrayal  of  Dido 
and  Lavinia,  gentle  far  beyond  the  measure  of  the  Latin 
genius,  is  yet  plainly  that  of  good-natured  contempt,  mingled 
with  the  diffident  and  timid  aversion  of  a  confirmed  bachelor. 
One  can  read  between  the  lines  how  Virgil  would  have  shrunk 
from  a  rich,  passionate  feminine  nature  like  that  of  the 
Carthaginian  queen.  Her  salutation  would  have  been  far 
more  to  be  dreaded  by  him  than  the  noisy  plaudits  of  the 
crowds  that  followed  him  in  the  street.  He  mio-ht  not  have 
run  away  from  such  a  woman,  but  there  is  not  a  doubt  that  he 
would  have  wished  to  do  so.  The  general  tenor  of  his  life 
and  the  tendency  of  his  poetry  give  the  strongest  testimony  to 
the  purity  of  his  mind.*  But  in  later  ages  when  the  reputation 
of  a  magician  had  been  fastened  upon  him,  it  was  natural  that 
all  the  fancies  with  which  professors  of  the  black  art  Avere 
invested  should  be  interwoven  with  his  legendary  biography. 
It  remained  for  the  French  and  German  romancers  to  connect 
with  the  name  of  Virgil  a  disreputable  tale  which  had  often 
been  told  of  other  notable  persons.  To  understand  why  this 
tale  should  have  been  an  agreeable  one  to  the  taste  of  mediceval 
readers,  the  disposition  of  the  middle  ages  toward  woman  must 
be  comprehended.  St.  Bernard  put  all  the  brutality  of  five 
hundred  years  into  an  aphorism  when  he  said  that  the  carnal- 

"■•■The  remark  of  Servius,  Uno  tantum  morbo  laborabat,  nam  impatiem, 
libidini  fait  [See  Masvicii  Virgilins,  Vol.  I.,  p.  304],  does  not  militate 
against  the  testimony  of  Virgil's  own  writings,  for  it  is  not  the  man 
who  yields  to  every  assault  of  his  passions  who  knows  their  strength, 
but  the  man  who  resists  and  becomes  impatient  of  the  conflict. 


136  MASTER   VI B GIL 

minded  woman,  meaning  every  woman  who  was  not  of  the 
religious,  est  organum  Satani,  "Is  the  instrument  of  the  devil." 
This  emphatic  sentence  is  one  of  the  most  significant  in 
mediaeval  literature.     It  is  the  epitome  of  volumes  that  were  ^ 

written  and  a  key  to  the  most  unpleasant  secrets  of  life  in  the 
dark  ages.  Those  who  maintain  that  woman  owes  much  to 
the  church  in  those  centuries,  if  they  desire  to  be  accurate, 
should  make  a  distinction  between  the  recognized  and  the  un- 
recognized forces  of  religion.  The  church,  as  organized,  was 
a  foe  of  the  family,  and,  therefore,  of  woman.  In  its 
priesthood  and  in  its  religious  orders,  its  tendency  was  to  turn 
the  Avorld  into  one  vast  heiynitage.  The  fathers  and  ecclesias- 
tical writers  exalted  celibacy  as  the  only  state  in  which 
man  could  approach  perfection  ;  even,  when  most  moderate, 
asserting  with  Olympiodorus,  the  monk,  that  while  mar- 
riage was  not  to  be  altogether  condemned,  yet  celibacy  was 
worthy  of  all  praise ;  thus  they  advocated  not  only  what 
was  absurd,  but  what  was  thoroughly  immoral,  and  brought 
the  idea  of  perfection  into  conflict  with  natural  and  social 
laws.  Chivalry,  the  complement  of  mediaeval  asceticism,  by 
an  opposite  course,  weakened  the  conjugal  bond,  depriving 
the  wife  of  dignity,  and  refusing  to  her  the  highest  motive  for 
honesty  and  self-respect.  In  spite  of  some  fragments  of 
literature  which  portrayed  Avoman  in  her  purity,  in  spite  of 
the  extravagant  homage  paid  to  her  in  the  courts  of  love  and 
in  the  tournaments,  she  was  never  more  wickedly  insulted  than 
during  the  reign  of  gallantry  and  under  the  shadow  of 
monkerv.  An  incredible  number  of  tales  and  witticisms,  for 
the  most  part  trifling  and  obscene,  were  invented  to  her  dis- 
credit. The  worst  of  these  furnished  not  only  the  humor  of 
the  strolling  player  and  the  story  teller,  but  gave  pungency  to 


THE  LOVER  137 

the  sermons  of  the  times.  The  painters  who  decorated  the 
churches  were  not  ashamed  to  take  these  tales  as  the  theme  of 
their  pictures.  When  worship  was  thus  disgraced,  how  could 
Virgil  hope  to  escape  ? 


n 


One  of  these  tales  was  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  legend 
respecting  Virgil's  relations  with  women.  lu  the  earliest  and 
most  common  form  of  the  narrative,  Virgil  was  represented  as 
enamored  of  the  emperor's  daughter.  She  did  not  sympathize 
with  his  ardent  expressions  of  love.  Feigning,  however,  to 
accede  to  his  wishes,  that  she  might  the  more  severely  pun- 
ish him  for  his  presumption,  she  proposed  to  introduce  him 
secretly  into  her  chamber,  by  drawing  him  up  in  a  basket  to 
the  window  of  the  tower  where  she  lived.  Virgil  eagerly 
agreed  to  this  plan,  and  at  the  hour  designated  promptly 
bestowed  himself  in  the  basket,  which  he  found  swinging  at 
the  foot  of  the  tower  according  to  the  lady's  promise.  All 
went  well  enough  until  he  had  been  drawn  half  way  up  to  the 
window.  There  the  princess  and  her  women  left  him,  taunting 
him  and  mocking  his  prayers  for  release.  He  swung  in  mid 
air  until  daybreak.  The  people  of  the  city,  who  were  all 
familiar  with  the  figure  of  so  renowned  a  man,  were  first 
startled,  then  amused  by  the  predicament  in  which  they  found 
him.  This  incident  did  not  end  with  the  laughter  and  gibes 
of  the  populace ;  for  the  emperor  having  been  informed  of  the 
matter  released  Virgil  from  his  unique  prison,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  ordering  him  to  be  beheaded.  Virgil,  as  soon  as  he 
placed  his  feet  on  solid  ground,  found  means  of  escape  by 
the  use  of  his  magical  arts.     The  insult  that  had  been  put 


138  MASTER   VIRGIL 

upon  him  rankled  in  his  mind,  however,  and  in  order  to 
prepare  the  way  for  vengeance,  the  magician  caused  all  the 
fires  in  Rome  to  go  out,  and  made  it  impossible  to  light  them 
again,  except  by  the  public  shame  and  exposure  of  the 
emperor's  daughter.  The  legend,  as  thus  made  up,  is  manifestly 
composed  of  two  parts  which  are  ill-fitted  to  be  together.  The 
first  part  belongs  with  those  inventions  of  mediaeval  humor  in 
which  Adam,  David,  Samson,  Hercules,  Hippocrates,  Aristotle 
and  other  men  of  renown  were  the  victims  of  a  ridiculous  trick 
originating  in  the  subtle  craftiness  and  instinctive  malice  of 
womankind.  For  example,  the  grave  Aristotle,  according  to 
Adam  de  la  Halle  and  many  other  writers,  got  down  on 
all-fours  in  order  that  a  woman  might  bridle,  saddle  and 
ride  him  as  though  he  were  a  horse.  These  inventions  are  a 
commonplace  of  satiric  poetry  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries.  The  second  part  was  among  the  stories  common  in 
Europe  long  before  it  was  connected  with  the  name  of  Virgil. 
In  an  ancient  account  of  St.  Leo  Thaumaturge  it  was  told  of 
Heliodorus,  a  reputed  magician,  who  lived  in  Sicily  in  the 
eighth  century.  As  this  account  was  written  first  in  Greek 
and  as  many  of  the  incidents  in  the  career  of  the  extremely 
wicked  Heliodorus  were  said  to  have  taken  place  at  Constanti- 
nople, there  is  little  room  to  doubt  that  the  particular  story 
in  question  belongs  to  Grecian  antiquity,  from  which  it 
descended  to  both  the  oriental  and  the  European  literature  of 
later  times.  It  is  said  to  be  part  of  a  Persian  tale  concerning 
a  Khan  of  Turkestan,  which  has  been  translated  into  French 
by  Defremery.  The  two  parts  of  the  legend  may  have  been 
associated  with  Virgil's  name  separately  in  the  first  place — for 
the  trick  played  by  the  woman  hardly  seems  artful  enough  to 
have  deceived  a  magician  such  as  Virgil  is  afterward  shown  to 


THE  L  0  VER  139 

be.  They  appeared  together  for  the  first  time  so  far  as  known 
in  a  Latin  work  of  the  twelfth  century.  Jans  Enenkel,  in 
his  Weltbuch,  narrated  them,  and  they  were  subsequently 
repeated  in  the  French  poem  Benars  Contrefait,  and  in  numer- 
ous writings  of  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries,  French  and  German  most  frequently,  but  also  in 
Spanish,  Italian  and  English.  The  legend  was  made  a  part, 
not  only  of  those  works  that  professed  to  treat  of  the  Virgilian 
legends,  but  also  of  narratives  in  prose  and  verse,  where  one 
had  little  reason  to  expect  it.  As  a  rule  Virgil  was  represented 
to  have  been  unsuccessful  in  his  suit,  but  Ticknor  in  J.  History 
of  Spanish  Literature  cites  a  ballad  in  which  punishment  was 
said  to  have  been  visited  upon  him  for  his  success.  Sometimes 
the  story  was  told  merely  as  a  joke  ;  sometimes  as  an  example 
to  enforce  exhortations  against  the  sin  of  carnality.  The 
Spanish  poet  Juan  Ruiz  de  Hita,  writing  about  1313,  recalled 
the  legend  in  a  discourse  upon  this  theme  which  seems  to  have 
been  as  fruitful  in  disquisitions  as  it  was  in  offences.  With 
the  highly  useful  attachment  of  a  moral  so  plain  that  innocence 
itself  could  not  misinterpret  the  fable,  it  was  told  and  retold 
to  weariness  in  literature ;  presented  over  and  over  again  in 
church  pictures,  and  was  made  the  subject  of  elaborate  works 
by  masters  in  art.  A  more  pleasing  form  of  the  second  part 
of  the  legend  was  a  tale  in  which  Virgil  was  represented  as 
having  gone  about  Rome  in  disguise  that  he  might  test  the 
hospitality  of  the  people.  He  was  kindly  treated  by  one 
family  only,  the  members  of  which  were  miserably  poor.  In 
order  to  punish  the  uncharitable  multitude,  he  extinguished 
all  the  fires  in  the  city  save  the  one  on  the  hospitable  hearth 
The  poor  family  sold  live  coals  to  their  neighbors  and  were  by 
this  means  raised  from  penury  to  affluence. 


140  MAS  TEE    VIRGIL 

ni 

The  legend  whieli  lias  been  alluded  to  was  not  the  only  one 
that  placed  Vh'gil  in  relation  with  the  female  sex.  Appeals 
to  the  judgment  of  God,  by  ordeals  in  which  truth  and  justice 
were  supposed  to  be  upheld  by  a  miracle,  were  a  matter  of 
universal  custom.  The  dishonorable  position  in  which  woman 
had  been  placed  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  times  caused  her 
to  be  a  frequent  victim  of  some  brutal  test  of  this  kind.  The 
lightest  rumor  affecting  her  purity  was  enough  to  subject  her 
to  a  trial  from  which  only  her  own  acuteness  or  the  arm  of 
some  willing  champion  could  rescue  her.  Literature  was  per- 
meated with  this  distrust  of  woman,  and  well  it  might  be,  for 
it  was  to  an  extent  unknown  in  any  other  period,  the  product 
of  celibacy.  It  was  perfectly  natural  that  writers  whose  whole 
education  had  been  such  as  to  make  them  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  most  important  facts  in  the  science  of  human  na- 
ture should  have  imputed  their  own  impotent  and  malicious 
cynicism  to  a  character  so  celebrated  as  that  of  Virgil.  How 
this  was  done  may  be  seen  in  the  Dolopathos  at  the  place  where 
the  poet-astrologer  is  introduced  to  save  the  life  of  his  pupil, 
Lucimien.  The  prince  was  about  to  be  burned  at  the  stake 
because  of  the  accusations  made  against  him  by  his  stepmother. 
Virgil  rushed  to  the  place  of  torture,  crying  out  to  the  king  to 
spare  au  innocent  life.  Dolopathos  hesitated,  and  the  wise 
man  upbraided  him  for  his  folly  in  trusting  the  words  of 
women,  who  are  more  expert  in  wickedness  than  all  other 
creatures  together.  Evil  is  the  very  nattire  of  woman,  he 
declares;  no  foolhardiness  in  sin  is  impossible  to  her  disposition, 
and  she  has  no  rival  in  disloyalty  and  treason,  in  vices  and 
cruelties,  in  cunning  and  hatred.     His  speech  to  the  queen  is 


THE  L  0  VER  141 

a  diatribe  on  the  sex,  the  more  bitter  because  it  was  added  to 
the  obnoxious  pedantry  which  had  been  displayed  by  the  seven 
counsellors  in  their  successive  appeals  to  the  king.  Then  to 
illustrate  the  cunning  of  woman  when  she  is  bent  upon  deceit, 
Virgil  is  made  to  tell  a  story  which  bears  a  general  likeness  to 
the  one  known  under  the  title  of  The  Two  Dreams  in  the 
ordinary  versions  of  Tlie  Seven  Wise  Men,  but  while  the  latter 
is  of  oriental  origin,  the  former,  as  put  in  the  mouth  of  Virgil, 
is  obviously  a  Greek  invention.  The  device  of  the  two  dreams, 
one  by  the  lover,  the  other  by  his  mistress,  in  which  they  are 
made  aware  each  of  the  other's  existence,  is  replaced  with  an 
idea  in  harmony  with  the  extreme  love  of  the  Greeks  for 
statuary.  Virgil  represents  that  in  his  youth  he  had  the 
acquaintance  of  the  son  of  a  senator  at  Rome.  Though  this 
young  man  had  every  inducement  to  be  married,  he  obstinately 
neglected  all  his  opportunities.  Finally  when  hard  pressed  by 
his  friends,  he  caused  a  handsome  statue  to  be  made  and  vowed 
that  he  would  wed  no  woman  unless  she  resembled  in  appear- 
ance this  inanimate  figure.  Not  long  afterward  a  party  of 
Greek  sailors  shipwrecked  on  the  Italian  coast  made  their  way 
to  Rome.  When  they  saw  the  statue  they  expressed  great 
surprise  at  its  likeness  to  the  wife  of  their  ruler,  and  related 
how  the  husband,  on  account  of  jealousy,  kept  her  immured  in 
a  tower  from  which  there  seemed  to  be  no  way  of  escape.  The 
son  of  the  senator,  of  course,  went  to  free  the  young  woman 
from  her  imprisonment.  Without  much  trouble  he  found  the 
tower,  made  the  prisoner  aware  of  his  purpose  and  of  the 
extraordinary  manner  in  which  he  had  been  led  to  seek  her 
out.  The  jealous  old  lord  was  conveniently  stupid,  and  in  due 
time  the  young  Roman  and  the  wife  escaped.  As  soon  as  she 
espied  the  statue,  which  was  so  just  a  counterpai't  of  her  own 


142  MASTER   VI BOIL 

face  and  figure,  she  hit  upon  a  stratagem  by  which  pursuit 
might  be  foiled.  When  the  husband  came  to  ask  justice  of 
the  Romans,  the  senator's  son  pointed  to  the  statue  and  said: 
"See!  For  my  sin  and  hers,  she  has  been  turned  to  stone." 
The  old  lord,  triumphant  in  the  thought  that  the  woman's 
wickedness  went  not  unpunished,  seized  the  statue,  draped  it  in 
costly  cloths  and  carried  it  back  to  his  tower.  It  was  to  be 
expected  that  a  woman  so  skillful  in  deceit  would  give  her  new 
lover  the  same  trouble  which  she  had  caused  the  old  one.  But 
before  touching  the  remainder  of  Virgil's  narrative,  it  will  not 
be  out  of  place  to  show  that  the  portion  already  presented  was, 
as  has  been  said,  Greek  in  its  origin.  There  is  yet  extant  a 
poem  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  Latin,  the  whole  of  which 
has,  perhaps,  never  been  printed,  that  appears  to  be  a  close 
imitation  of  a  Greek  original.  Zeno  of  Sidon  visits  Philo,  a 
wealthy  Greek,  and  is  overcome  with  jealous  terror  at  the  sight 
of  a  statue  of  Parian  marble,  richly  clothed  and  spangled 
with  jewels,  because  it  resembles  his  own  wife.  Foolishly  he 
discloses  the  cause  of  his  illness  to  Philo,  and  on  his  return 
home  relates  the  adventure  to  his  wife.  Not  long  afterward 
Philo  goes  to  Sidon  and  l>v  a  singular  artifice  carries  off  the 
wife  of  Zeno.  In  this  form  the  tale  needs  none  of  the  addi- 
tions about  the  gloomy  tower  and  the  imprisoned  woman,  the 
wandering  lover  disguised  as  minstrel  or  palmer,  and  other 
things  characteristic  of  feudal  times.  It  is  a  picture  of  the 
free  life  in  the  Greek  cities.  With  its  luxurious  disbelief  in 
virtue,  Herbers  fused  the  boorish  contempt  for  woman  char- 
acteristic of  his  own  age.  No  sooner  was  the  young  Roman 
married  than  he  became  excessively  jealous  of  the  woman 
whom  he  had  won.  He  caused  a  castle  to  be  built  with  walls 
like  those  which  the  Saracens  constructed,  and  in  this  prison 


THE  LOVER  143 

he  placed  his  wife.  She  made  no  objection  ;  on  the  contrary, 
she  jjretended  to  be  pleased ;  but,  as  Virgil  is  made  to  say,  the 
greater  the  gaiety  of  a  woman,  the  more  courage  she  has  for 
deeds  of  wicked  folly.  She  contrived  by  coquetries  to  put 
her  husband  in  a  suspicious  mood.  Then  she  j)retended  to 
throw  herself  from  the  window  of  her  prison.  Alarmed  by 
the  noise  which  she  made  in  casting  a  stone  to  the  ground,  the 
husband  entered  the  room  to  see  if  she  was  gone.  She  was 
hidden  behind  a  pillar.  Slipping  out  of  the  open  door,  she 
barred  it  securely,  and  thus  taught  her  husband  a  lesson 
which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  he  did  not  forget.  The  argument  of 
all  this  is  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  mind  of  man  to  be 
prepared  for  the  tricks  of  which  woman  is  capable ;  therefore, 
it  was  a  mark  of  great  weakness  in  King  Dolopathos  to  yield 
at  the  solicitations  of  his  deceitful  spouse.  As  soon  as  Virgil 
began  to. speak  the  queen  and  her  damsels  fell  to  trembling. 
Pale  with  fright,  they  awaited  the  decision  of  the  judges,  who 
now  found  it  convenient  to  reverse  their  former  opinion. 
Then  Lucimien  broke  the  silence  which  he  had  kept  for  seven 
days  and  told  his  story  of  the  interview  with  the  queen.  The 
women,  speechless  with  terror,  were  cast  into  the  fire,  and,  as 
a  final  touch  of  mediaeval  cruelty,  the  romancer  adds  that 
nobody  had  any  pity  for  them ;  neither  father,  nor  mother, 
nor  friend  showed  compassion ;  not  a  prayer  was  offered  for 
them;  the  poet  himself  wasted  too  much  time  in  describing 
their  fate,  so  he  says,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  many  things  of 
importance  remained  for  him  to  tell. 

Thus  at  the  outset  of  that  literary  movement  which  culminated 
in  the  magical  biography  of  Virgil,  he  was  made  to  appear, 
like  many  of  the  saints,  as  an  adversary  of  womankind.  The 
vulgar  notions  on  this  subject  led  to  the  invention  of  many 


144  MASTER   VIRGIL 

popular  tales,  among  which  was  one  that  became  associated 
with  Virgil's  name.  It  was  said  that  he  set  up  in  Rome  a 
statue  with  an  open  mouth  to  which  women  were  brought  to 
testify  when  their  honesty  was  in  question.  If  they  asserted 
their  innocence  of  the  charge  made  against  them,  they  were 
obliged  to  maintain  the  truth  of  their  statement  by  an  oath 
taken  while  their  fingers  were  thrust  into  the  mouth  of  the 
statue.  When  a  woman  swore  falsely,  the  stone  jaws  of  the 
statue  came  together  and  her  maimed  hand  disclosed  her  per- 
jury. Here  again  the  story  tellers  illustrated  the  cunning 
of  the  sex  by  relating  that  once  a  woman  of  rank  was  accused 
by  her  husband  of  being  unfaithful  to  him.  Finding  that  she 
must  face  the  ordeal,  she  instructed  her  lover  to  feign  madness, 
and  to  seize  her  in  the  presence  of  the  statue.  Her  husband 
rescued  her  with  difficulty  from  the  clutches  of  the  suppositi- 
tious maniac.  Pretending  the  utmost  shame  because  of  this 
incident,  the  woman  swore  that  she  had  never  suffered  the  em- 
brace  of  any  man  save  her  husband  and  this  insane  person 
whom  all  had  seen,  and  confirmed  her  oath  by  withdrawing 
her  fingers  unhurt  from  the  mouth  of  the  statue.  Even 
Virgil  in  this  case  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  he  had 
been  outwitted.  The  author  of  an  anonymous  German  poem, 
written  in  the  fourteenth  century,  in  describing  this  statue, 
remarked  that  there  were  many  women  in  Rome  who  bore  its 
mark  upon  them.  He  then  went  on  to  tell  of  an  empress 
who  took  advantage  of  her  husband's  absence  to  renew  her 
acquaintance  with  a  knight.  The  emperor,  though  far  away 
upon  the  sea  with  his  knights  and  nobles,  engaged  in  an 
important  enterprise,  went  with  only  half  a  heart,  because  he 
was  tormented  with  the  thought  of  his  wife's  dishonor  which 
he  dreaded  far  more  than  his  own  death.     In  his  anxiety  he 


THE  LOVER  145 

consulted  a  wise  man  in  his  train,  and  this  personage  advised 
an  immediate  return  to  Rome.  The  emperor  followed  this. 
counsel.  Upon  reaching  Rome,  he  demanded  of  the  empress 
a  strict  account  of  her  conduct.  She  declared  that  she  had 
done  no  wrong,  and  he,  not  yet  convinced,  replied  that  she 
must  be  tried  by  the  statue  so  that  all  mankind  might  know 
her  innocence,  and  that  his  knights  might  see  how  pure  a  wife 
she  was.  At  this  point  the  story  as  already  related  is  taken 
up.  After  the  empress  went  through  the  scene  before  the 
statue,  she  placed  her  fingers  in  its  mouth  with  this  naive 
address:  "Now,  listen,  statue,  and  mark  me  well.  I  stand 
here  for  truth,  for  honor,  for  life,  that  thou  canst  find  no  fault 
in  me;  for  no  man  has  ever  come  near  me,  save  only  the 
emperor  and  this  crazy  man,  whom  all  have  seen.  Now, 
mark  me,  statue,  what  I  say  to  thee,  for  I  swear  to  the  truth. 
If  I  swear  falsely,  punish  me."  The  statue  was  motionless, 
and  the  empress^  withdrawing  her  hand,  exclaimed:  "There, 
my  lord,  don't  you  see  you  have  wronged  me?  My  fingers 
are  not  hurt."  The  emperor  begged  her  pardon  and  they 
celebrated  their  reconciliation  by  breaking  the  image  to 
pieces. 

The  statue  thus  attributed  to  Virgil's  magic  was  not  wholly 
a  creature  of  the  imagination.  The  legend  was  associated  for 
many  generatioiis  with  an  ancient  sculptured  head  which  still 
exists  among  the  relics  of  Rome.  In  the  Mirabilia  Urbis 
Romce,  this  head  Avas  said  to  have  pronounced  oracles.  In  the 
German  version  of  that  work,  made  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
the  name  of  Virgil  and  the  account  of  the  way  the  stone  lost 
its  efficacy  were  added  to  the  simple  remark  with  which  the 
compiler  of  the  Latin  guide-book  had  been  content.  The 
moral  attached  to  the  story  led  to  a  new  interpretation  of 


146  MASTER   VIRGIL 

other  stories.  For  example,  Hans  Sachs,  the  cobbler-poet  of 
Germany,  taking  up  the  familiar  story  of  the  magic  bridge, 
made  out  that  Virgil  built  a  bridge  upon  which  no  woman 
who  had  been  unfaithful  to  her  marriage  vows  could  walk 
with  safety. 


IV 


After  the  reputation  of  Virgil  as  a  magician  became  fixed, 
that  is,  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  the  story  of 
his  intrigue  with  the  daughter  of  the  emperor  was  a  theme 
naturally  to  be  enlarged  upon.  It  was  related  that  when  the 
Romans  had  relighted  their  fires,  they  committed  the  magician 
to  prison.  He  escaped  by  making  the  picture  of  a  ship  on 
the  walls  of  his  cell  and  converting  it  into  a  real  ship  by  an 
incantation.  Ro  far  the  story  was  a  common  one.  It  had 
been  told  of  tlie  Sicilian  Heliodorus,  who,  when  he  Avas  com- 
manded to  go  to  Constantinople  for  trial  on  the  charge  of  being 
an  enchanter,  conjured  up  a  vessel  which  carried  liim  and 
his  guards  thither  in  an  incredibly  brief  space  of  time. 
The  notion  of  magic  ships  was  familiar  to  the  Greeks. 
Macrobius  called  attention  to  the  confusion  of  mind  that  had 
arisen  through  the  use  of  the  same  words  to  describe  both 
drinking  vessels  and  sailing  vessels,  and  even  thought  it  nec- 
essary to  discredit  the  story  related  by  two  Greek  writers, 
Panyasis  and  Pherecydes,  that  Hercules  made  a  voyage  to  the 
island  of  Erytheia  in  a  bowl.  "My  idea  is,"  says  he,  "that 
Hercules  crossed  the  sea  not  in  a  drinking  cup,  but  in  a  ship, 
the  name  of  which  was  Scyphiisi,  a  can."  Nearly  all  the 
numerous  words  by  which  the  Greeks  distinguished  the  differ- 
ent forms  of  hollow-ware  in  use  among  them  were  also  taken  i] 


TEE  L  0  VEB  147 

to  describe  boats.  The  transition  from  one  thing  to  the  other 
easily  followed  the  transition  from  one  meaning  to  the  other, 
as  in  the  case  of  Hercules,  to  be  succeeded  in  due  time 
by  the  notion  that  the  conversion  of  one  thing  into  the 
other  was  due  to  magic.  This  belief  was  frequently 
mentioned  in  popular  lore,  specially  that  of  Russia,  which 
owes  not  a  little  of  its  superstition  to  the  Byzantines. 
Virgil  not  only  effected  his  own  escape,  but  carried  off 
his  fellow  prisoners.  By  another  account  it  appears  that 
Virgil  liberated  himself  from  prison  by  means  of  a  charm  said 
over  a  large  bowl  or  shell  full  of  sea  water.  In  this  form  also 
the  incident  was  a  feature  of  the  pretended  biography  of 
Heliodorus,  who  was,  as  has  been  remarked,  a  prototype  of 
the  magician  Virgil.  Aliprando,  the  Mantuan  poet,  added  to 
this  tale  a  figment  not  uncommon  in  stories  of  magic,  to  the 
effect  that'Virgil,  while  flying  over  the  sea  in  his  shell,  ordered 
one  of  his  familiar  spirits  to  fetch  him  the  victuals  from 
Octavian's  table.  It  remained,  however,  for  Jean  d'Outremeuse 
to  develop  from  these  fragments  a  systematic  fiction  as  one 
of  the  episodes  in  his  Ly  Myreur  cles  Sistors.  He  saw  the 
inconsistency  of  the  tale  as  it  had  been  rudely  put  together  by 
the  earlier  romancers.  Rejecting  those  features  which  could 
not  be  made  to  agree  with  the  notion  of  Virgil's  skill  in  necro- 
mancy, he  invented  new  details  to  suit  the  idea  which  he  had 
formed  of  a  magician.  Evil  and  selfish  as  Virgil  was,  he 
drew  people  to  him  in  spite  of  themselves.  Febilla,  the 
daughter  of  Julius  Caesar,  fell  in  love  with  him  upon  mere 
hearsay.  Indeed,  no  woman  was  ever  overcome  with  greater 
ease.  She  sent  word  to  Virgil  that  she  wished  him  to  visit 
her.  Upon  his  arrival  the  imperial  damsel,  laying  aside  all 
modesty,  said    frankly:    "Sir  Virgil,   tell    me    if  you    love 


148  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

me;  for  if  you  do,  I  am  yours,  either  wife  or  mistress."  Virgil 
with  equal  frankness  replied  that  as  for  a  wife,  he  was  not  in 
the  mind,  but  that  he  would  willingly  accept  the  companion- 
ship of  so  lovely  a  maiden  as  FebiUa  on  any  other  terms. 
Thus  began  between  them  an  intrigue  which  lasted  a  long 
time.  In  the  meanwhile,  Virgil  became  famous  by  reason  of 
the  prodigies  which  he  performed,  and  Febilla  began  to  enter- 
tain the  hope  that  she  might  become  his  lawful  wife.  Every 
time  that  she  alluded  to  the  subject,  however — and  that  was 
by  no  means  rarely — Virgil  would  answer  that  he  had  some- 
thing else  to  think  about  just  then;  or,  that  his  studies  were 
such  as  did  not  admit  of  his  marrying ;  if  the  time  ever  came 
when  he  wished  to  marry,  she  should  be  his  wife.  But  that 
time  did  not  come.  Febilla  grew  importunate,  but  Virgil 
continued  to  treat  the  matter  with  indifference.  Finally, 
weary  of  being  beguiled  with  a  promise  never  to  be  fulfilled, 
Febilla  one  day  invented  a  story  that  her  father  had  discovered 
all,  and  was  about  to  punish  both  herself  and  her  lover.  The 
magician  only  laughed  and  said  that  if  Febilla  was  afraid,  she 
*  was  welcome  to  go.  He  should  like  her  to  stay,  if  she  would 
only  stop  her  clatter  on  the  subject  of  marriage.  The  lady, 
though  very  angry,  pretended  to  be  satisfied.  But  she 
meditated  vengeance.  Feigning  that  her  father,  in  order  to 
stop  all  intercourse  between  her  and  Virgil,  was  about  to  shut 
her  up  in  a  castle,  she  suggested  that  the  magician  could  still 
visit  her  by  means  of  a  basket  in  which  he  could  be  drawn  up 
to  her  window.  Virgil  foresaw  what  would  happen,  but 
agreed  to  her  plan  as  though  ignorant  of  its  purpose.  Instead 
of  getting  into  the  basket  himself,  he  caused  one  of  his  familiar 
spirits  to  take  his  place,  in  a  shape  that  seemed  to  be  Virgil's 
own.     The  devil  acted  his  part  to   perfection.     The  basket 


THE  LOVER  I49 

swung  in  mid  air  uutil  morning,  when  the  emperor  came  to 
punish  the  seducer  of  his  daughter.  He  drew  his  sword  and 
clove  the  head  which  he  supposed  was  Virgil's.  ^VTiat  was 
his  astonishment  to  see  issue  from  the  wound,  not  blood,  but 
a  smoke  so  dense  and  in  so  great  a  volume  that  soon  the  whole 
city  was  in  darkness.  Not  content  with  this  exploit,  Virgil 
put  out  all  the  fires  of  the  city  and  then  departed.  At  the 
urgent  request  of  the  emperor  and  the  people  of  Rome,  he 
returned  and  restored  the  fires.  But  he  could  not  refrain 
from  a  brutal  jest  on  Febilla.  He  cast  over  a  temple 
frequented  by  women  so  potent  a  spell  that  every  woman 
who  entered  its  portals  was  obliged  to  proclaim  what  she  had 
hitherto  held  in  inviolable  secrecy.*  Febilla,  caught  in  this 
trap,  made  herself  ridiculous  by  a  minute  description  of  her 
undraped  figure.  The  death  of  Julius  Ctesar  was  followed  by 
the  accession  of  Octavian  to  the  throne  iu  spite  of  the  widow 
who  desired  to  reign.  She  plotted  with  her  daughter  Febilla 
to  destroy  Octavian  and  his  great  ally,  Virgil.  The  new 
emperor  and  his  counsellor  were  invited  to  a  banquet,  where 
they  were  to  be  assassinated.  Virgil  j^enetrated  the  conspiracy, 
and  had  himself  and  Octavian  personated  at  the  entertainment 
by  demons.  The  sanguinary  la<lies,  after  committing  the 
murder,  found  that  they  had  wreaked  their  vengeance  only  on 
the  carcasses  of  two  huge  dogs.  One  feature  of  the  plot  was 
not  revealed  to  Virgil's  art  at  the  outset — namely,  that  the 

*A  device  of  this  kind  is  not  unknown  to  the  stage.  Beckford 
{Travels  in  Portiujul,  Letter  xx.]  says  :  "In  some  of  our  pantomimes,  if 
I  recollect  rightly,  harlequin  applies  a  touchstone  to  his  adversaries, 
and  by  its  magic  influence  draws  truth  from  them  in  spite  of  propriety 
or  interest.  The  lawyer  confesses  to  having  fingered  a  bribe,  the 
soldier  his  flight  in  the  day  of  battle  and  the  whining  methodistical 
dowager  her  frequent  recourse  to  the  bottle  of  inspiration." 


150  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

Senate  was  privy  to  it.  lu  his  wrath  upon  discovering  this 
fact,  he  quitted  Rome,  bearing  away  the  fire  and  leaving  word 
to  the  Romans  that  they  must  light  their  torches  from  the 
body  of  Febilla.  She  died  of  shame  and  madness  at  being 
subjected  to  the  ill  treatment  of  the  multitude. 


V 


In  the  popular  history  of  Virgil,  the  magician,  which  was 
written  in  French  and  afterward  transferred  with  more  or  less 
change  in  subject-matter  to  nearly  all  the  languages  of  Northern 
Europe,  the  story  of  the  basket  reappeared,  unaffected  by  the 
elaborate  fancies  of  Jean  d'Outremeuse.  The  Mouth  of 
Truth,  however,  was  said  to  belong  to  a  serpent  of 
bronze.  Virgil  himself  destroyed  this  image  when  he  found 
that  a  woman  was  cunning  enough  to  baffle  his  magic.  He 
was  said  to  have  married  soon  after  his  venture  with  the 
basket.  Strange  occurrences  followed  the  marriage.  The 
magician  became  disgusted  with  the  conduct  of  the  Roman 
women.  In  order  to  work  a  reformation  among  them,  he 
moulded  a  statue  and  placed  it  high  in  the  air.  It  could  not 
fall  because  it  was  enchanted.  The  people  of  Rome  could  not 
open  a  door  or  a  window  without  catching  a  glimi:)se  of  it. 
For  mere  beauty  of  sculpture  such  a  thing  might  have  been 
borne;  but  this  statue  had  the  property  that  it  drove  all 
unchaste  thoughts  from  the  minds  of  women,  when  they  saw 
it,  no  matter  how  quickly  they  turned  their  heads  away.  So 
they  besought  Virgil's  wife  to  fetch  it  down  and  break  the 
power  of  its  enchantment.  She  found  means  to  carry  out 
their  wishes.  Virgil  raised  the  image  again,  and  restored 
the    spell.     Again    the    wife   cast   it    down,    but    this    time 


THE  LOVER  151 

she  was  seen   by  her  husbaad,  who  angrily  put  her  away, 
exclaiming : 

"The  devil  satisfy  you,  for  I  did  it  for  the  best.     I  shall 
never  more  meddle,  but  let  the  women  have  their  way." 

He  had  heard  often  of  the  beauty  of  the  Sultan's  daughter, 
and,  after  separating  from  his  wife,  he  determined  to  visit 
Babylon.  So  he  swung  his  magic  bridge  over  the  sea  and  was 
soon  in  the  presence  of  the  young  woman  who  was  famous  the 
world  over  for  her  good  looks.  She  willingly  consented  to 
return  with  Virgil  to  his  native  land.  He  showed  her  all  his 
possessions.  While  she  was  amusing  herself  in  this  manner, 
it  may  well  be  supposed  that  Babylon  was  in  an  uproar.  The 
Sultan,  when  he  found  not  his  daughter,  was  sorrowful.  The 
palace  and  the  city  were  searched  in  every  part.  As  unex- 
pectedly as  she  went  away,  so  with  equal  suddenness  the 
young  woman  reappeared  in  her  father's  palace.  The  only 
account  which  she  could  give  of  her  wanderings  was  that  a 
man  of  fair  complexion  had  carried  her  over  land  and  over 
sea  to  his  own  domain.  What  land  it  was  that  she  had 
visited  she  could  not  tell,  as  she  saw  neither  man  nor  woman 
nor  any  living  creature  save  the  man  who  carried  her  away. 
The  Sultan,  taking  it  for  granted  that  the  stranger  would 
repeat  his  visit  to  Babylon,  instructed  his  daughter  to  bring 
back  from  the  unknown  land  some  fruits  by  which  it  might 
be  discovered  whither  she  was  taken.  She  obeyed  this 
injunction  and  her  father  easily  divined  that  her  journeys 
ended  in  the  country  near  the  eastern  side  of  France ;  that  is, 
the  Italy  of  feudal  times.  When  the  princess  returned  for 
the  second  time,  she  was  instructed  to  give  the  stranger,  if  he 
came  again,  a  drink  that  would  cause  him  to  sleep  so  that  he 
might  be  taken  and  forced  to  explain  what  manner  of  man  he 


152  MAS  TEE    VIE  GIL 

was.  But  when  he  was  made  a  prisoner,  the  Sultan,  with  a 
cruelty  not  oriental  but  thoroughly  characteristic  of  mediaeval 
Europe,  determined  to  burn  him  at  the  stake.  The  daughter 
declared  that  she  would  share  the  prisoner's  fate. 

"So  you  shall,"  exclaimed  the  despot;  "I  have  other  daugh- 
ters." 

But  Virgil,  though  he  lacked  the  cunning  to  evade  his 
captors  in  the  first  place,  was  not  to  be  punished  so  easily. 
He  caused  what  seemed  to  be  a  great  flood  to  ovei-flow  the  city,* 
and  while  the  Sultan  and  his  ofiicers  and  soldiers  were  going 
through  the  motions  of  swimming  in  the  dust,  thinking  them- 
selves to  be  in  imminent  danger  of  drowning,  the  magician 
strode  away  with  the  princess  on  his  enchanted  bridge,  seem- 
ing to  those  below  him  to  be  walking  upon  nothing.     Upon 

returning  to  Rome,  Virgil  bethought  himself  how  he  should 
dispose   of   the   Sultan's  daughter.     He    built  the  town  of 

Naples,  setting  the  foundation  of  it  upon  eggs.     He  raised  in 

the  midst  of  the  city  a  square  tower  surmounted  with  an  apple 

stuck  upon  an  iron  staff     In  the  English  version  this  is  called 

"a  napyll"  suggesting  a  quaint  etymology  for  the  name  of  the 

city.     On  the  top  of  the  iron  staff  Virgil  placed  a  bottle,  and 

on  the  bottle  an  egg.     When  the  egg  stirred  the  town  of 

Naples  quaked,  and  it  was  believed  that  if  it  were  broken  the 

city  would  be  swallowed  up.     Virgil  stored  his  treasures  in 

Naples  and  gave  the  city  to  the  Sultan's  daughter.     With 

such  a  dowry  she  was  not  long  in  finding  a  husband  in  the 

person  of  a  Spanish  nobleman.     Thus  the  tale  is  brought  into 

*A  trick  often  mentioned  in  the  biographies  of  magicians.  There  ia 
a  story  of  Virgil  having  punished  some  women  who  had  ofTended  him, 
by  subjecting  them  to  this  delusion.  One  might  almost  suspect  that 
this  superstition  originated  in  some  oriental  fancies  about  the  mirage. 


THE  LOVER  153 

a  curious  relationship  with  political  events  which  must  have 
been  known  to  the  narrator  in  connection  with  the  claims  of 
Spain  to  the  possession  of  Southern  Italy. 


VI 


The  Spanish  romance  of  Virgil  differed  from  all  the  other 
tales  concerning  him  in  that  every  characteristic  of  the  historic, 
the  traditional  and  even  the  legendary  Virgil  gave  place  to  a 
clumsy  lover  with  all  the  whimsical  chivalry  and  ceremony 
proper  to  a  compatriot  of  Quixote.  To  the  author  of  this 
absurd  tale  Virgil  wore  the  guise  of  a  good  hidalgo,  who 
endured  imprisonment  patiently  for  the  sake  of  his  inamorata. 
His  punishment  came  about  in  this  way :  Having  conceived 
a  violent  passion  for  Isabella,  a  lady  of  the  court,  he  offended 
the  punctilious  manners  of  the  king  whom  he  served  by  a  too 
public  display  of  his  affection.  For  this  indecorum  he  was 
arrested,  tried  and  condemned  on  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
He  remained  in  prison,  before  he  was  again  remembered  by  the 
king,  full  seven  years.  On  a  Sunday  when  all  the  grandees 
were  the  guests  of  the  king,  the  strangely  defective  royal 
memory  was  suddenly  quickened  at  the  dinner  table ! 

"My  lords,"  exclaimed  the  king,  "and  Virgil,  where  is  he?" 

One  of  the  noblemen,  who  had  been  Virgil's  friend,  ventured 
to  reply:   "Your  majesty  has  him  in  prison." 

"Come,"  said  his  majesty,  "let  us  dine  quickly,  that  we 
may  visit  him." 

"Not  a  mouthful  will  I  eat  until  he  is  with  us,"  exclaimed 
the  queen.  So  to  the  prison  they  went,  and  when  they 
came  to  Virgil's  cell  they  asked  him  how  he  did,  and  he 
replied : 


154  MASTER    VIRGIL 

"Senors,  I  have  nothing  to  do,  save  comb  my  hair  and  my 
beard.  Here  they  grew  and  here  they  are  like  to  become 
gray.  To-day  seven  years  have  gone  since  your  majesty  had 
me  arrested." 

"Hush,  Virgil,"  whispered  the  courtiers,  alarmed  at  his 
boldness,  "of  ten  years  there  yet  remain  three." 

"But,"  continued-  the  prisoner,  submissively,  "if  your 
majesty  wills  it,  here  I  shall  remain  all  my  life." 

"Virgil,"  said  the  king,  "in  recompense  of  the  miseries  you 
have  suffered,  and  as  a  reward  for  your  patience,  you  shall 
this  day  eat  at  our  table." 

Virgil  protested  that  he  had  no  clothes  fit  to  wear,  but  the 
king  would  take  no  refusal.  Newly  attired  in  robes  suitable 
to  his  rank,  the  prisoner  was  led  to  the  palace.  The  king 
opened  his  heart  still  more  in  the  merriment  and  kindly  feeling 
of  the  feast,  and  commanded  that  Virgil  and  the  Donna 
Isabella  should  be  married  without  delay.  To  cap  the 
climax  of  absurdity,  it  is  gravely  stated  that  the  ceremouy 
was  performed  in  the  cathedral  by  his  grace,  tlie  arch- 
bishop. 

All  these  tales  have  this  value :  that  they  disclose  clearly  the 
national,  or  rather  the  racial  tendencies  out  of  which  they 
sprang.  These  peculiarities  might  have  been  concealed  in 
narratives  more  elaborate.  Even  the  obstinate  prejudice  of 
the  Teuton  against  the  Roman  finds  a  distinct  expression  in 
the  poem  of  the  anonymous  German  who  declared  in  effect 
that  the  women  of  Rome  were  notoriously  unfaithful.  But  it 
is  not  surprising  that  when  curiosity  was  reawakened  concern- 
ing the  Virgil  of  history,  it  should  have  seemed  impossible 
for  these  tales  to  have  been  attached  even  by  the  bonds 
of  legend  and  superstition  to  the  fame  of  the  Mantuan,  nor 


TEE  LOVER  155 

that  learned  men  should  have  looked  among  the  many 
Virgils  who  were  known  in  mediaeval  literature  for  a  per- 
sonality better  suited  to  such  inventions  than  was  that  of  the 
Augustan  poet. 


EIGHTE-VIBGIL,    THE  PROPHET 


Virgil  lived  too  long  before  the  beginning  of  the  contro- 
versy between  paganism  and  Christianity  to  afford  an 
opportunity  for  the  immediate  partisan  use  of  his  name  and 
reputation.  He  could  not  be  enrolled  as  an  adherent  of  either 
party,  because  he  never  had  the  opportunity  of  choosing 
between  them.  But  the  post-classical  and  mediaeval  world 
looked  upon  him  as  a  poet  of  prophetic  insight,  who  contained 
within  himself  all  the  potentialities  of  wisdom.  He  was  called 
The  Poet,  as  if  no  other  existed ;  The  Roman,  as  if  the  ideal 
of  the  commonwealth  were  embodied  in  him  ;  The  Perfect  in 
Style,  with  whom  no  other  writer  could  be  compared ;  The 
Philosopher,  who  grasped  the  ideas  of  all  things ;  The  Wise 
One,  whose  comprehension  seemed  to  other  mortals  unlimited ; 
and,  least  agreeable  title  to  a  poet,  he  was  called  The  Learned, 
as  having  mastered  the  lore  of  humanity.  His  writings 
became  the  Bible  of  a  race.  The  mysteries  of  Roman  priest- 
craft, the  processes  of  divination,  the  science  of  the  stars, 
were  all  found  in  his  works.  The  powers  of  a  magician,  and, 
subsequently,  the  name  were  attributed  to  him.     Christians, 


THE  PROPHET  157 

learned  as  well  as  unlearned,  accepting  these  opinions  did  not 
attempt  to  separate  the  Virgil  of  history  from  the  Virgil  of 
tradition.  Such  criticism  would  have  been  impossible.  Man- 
kind was,  in  fact,  not  capable  of  making  a  distinction  between 
the  real  and  the  unreal.  The  heathen  deities  were  as  truly 
existent  in  the  imagination  of  the  early  Christian  convert  as 
in  that  of  his  polytheistic  neighbor.  So  the  heathen  oracles 
were  studied  as  the  utterances  of  a  superhuman  intelligence, 
more  or  less  vicious,  which  pointed  in  spite  of  itself  to  the 
events  of  the  New  Dispensation.  The  whole  area  of  profane 
literature  was  traversed  in  search  of  passages  to  be  interpreted 
in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture.  As  to  Virgil, 
the  reasoning  was  obvious  that,  gifted  as  he  was  with  almost 
supernatural  powers,  and  with  a  prophetic  insight,  he  must 
have  been  cognizant  of  the  stupendous  changes  about  to  be 
wrought  in  the  world.  The  method  by  which  in  course  of 
time  he  was  made  to  do  duty  as  a  witness  for  Christianity  was, 
in  some  aspects,  little  to  the  credit  of  Christian  scholars ;  the 
only  excuse  for  this  was  the  prevalence  of  literary  dishonesty 
among  men  of  all  creeds.  Celsus  had  just  grounds  for 
reproaching  the  Christians  with  having  corrupted  the  Sibylline 
books  to  suit  their  own  views,  and  Origeu  could  reply  with 
equal  truth  that  the  pagans  and  Jews  had  already  vitiated  the 
original  poems  by  their  interpolations  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  "unadorned  earnest  words"  heard  by  Heraclitus  were  no 
longer  to  be  found  in  these  writings.  The  popularity  of  these 
fictions  led  to  the  composition  of  spurious  gospels,  spurious 
Orphic  hymns,  spurious  treatises  attributed  to  men  famous  in 
ancient  literature  which  affected  for  centuries  the  opinions 
even  of  the  most  learned.  A  particular  point  in  the  sibyllmes, 
upon  which  Christians  fixed  their  attention  was  the  prediction 


158  MASTER   VIRGIL 

of  a  last  golden  age  of  the  world  when  the  simplicity  and 
purity  of  the  first  men  were  to  be  recovered,  and  it  was  this 
prediction,  repeated  by  Virgil  on  the  authority,  as  they  thought, 
of  the  sacred  books  of  Rome  {Ultima  Cumcei  venitjam  carminis 
cetas),  that  attracted  them  especially  to  his  fourth  eclogue. 

To  the  patriotic  Roman  citizen  this  poem  seemed  a  prophetic 
outburst  in  view  of  the  great  destiny  which  had  been  antici- 
pated for  Rome  from  the  first.  Doubtless  Virgil  had  intended 
it  to  be  so  understood.  To  heighten  the  beauty  of  his  picture, 
he  appropriated  the  fancies  and  superstition  of  popular  lore ; 
for,  unlike  his  other  poems,  the  fourth  eclogue  can  be  traced 
to  no  Greek  or  Latin  work  of  an  earlier  time,  and  its  real  source 
may  have  been  a  simple  tradition,  perhaps  embodied  in  rude 
verse,  that  existed  among  the  people  of  Cumse,  where  the 
sibyl  was  supposed  to  have  once  had  her  mysteries. 

The  less  hopeful  Horace,  following  the  same  line  of  thought, 
genially  reminded  the  Romans  that  if  they  would  realize  such 
a  dream  of  unmingled  felicity  they  must  go  to  a  new  world. 
Half  in  jest  he  proposed  in  his  sixteenth  epode  that  they 
should  all  flee  to  the  Fortunate  Isles,  binding  themselves  by  a 
mutual  oath  never  to  return.  They  would  go  to  a  land  where 
nature  yielded  all  her  treasures  without  care  or  labor,  where 
the  harvest  matured  without  cultivation,  where  grapes  and 
figs  and  olives  ripened  of  themselves,  where  honey  was  to  be 
found  in  the  recesses  of  the  hollow  tree,  where  the  goats  ran 
to  the  milking  pail  unbidden,  where  there  were  no  ravening 
beasts,  no  noxious  winds,  no  fell  diseases ;  where  Argo  never 
came,  nor  Ulysses,  nor  Medea;  and  where  commerce 
Avas  unknown.  In  all  this  Horace  meant  to  smile  at  the 
dreams  which  the  Romans  cherished,  and  which  Virgil 
encouraged.     He  desired  his  readers  to  understand  that  there 


THE  PROPHET  159 

was  no  place  on  earth  of  unmingled  blessedness.  Above  all, 
while  they  had  the  world  to  conquer  and  rule,  they  must  not 
hope  for  the  enjoyment  of  unlaborious  ease.  If  he  had  not 
meant  to  be  gently  ironical,  he  would  not  have  proposed  the 
comical  pledge  to  his  imagined  voyagers  that  they  should  agree 
to  return  to  Italy  only  when  the  rocks  swam  on  the  surface  of 
the  sea,  when  the  rivers  flowed  over  the  mountains,  when 
tigers  herded  with  deer  and  kites  harmonized  with  doves, 
when  the  flocks  ceased  to  dread  the  lions  and  the  goats  took  to 
swimming  like  fishes. 

But  the  covert  rebuke  of  Horace  went  unheeded.  The 
Romans  throughout  their  history  indulged  the  vain  hope  of  a 
golden  empire,  where  they  would  rule  and  all  the  world  should 
be  at  peace.  Claudian,  the  last  of  the  classic  poets,  boldly 
announced  the  immediate  coming  of  the  happy  years  so  long 
expected.  ,  He  pictured  the  cavern  of  eternity  around  which 
the  endless  serpent  coiled,  while  fruitful  nature  stood  before 
the  entrance.  The  aged  man,  mysterious  embodiment  of  fate, 
sat  within,  ordering  with  uplifted  hand  the  courses  of  the 
stars.  He  it  was  who  established  the  laws  by  which  all  things 
subsisted.  Behind  him,  emerging  from  the  subterranean 
darkness,  were  seen  the  childish  figures  of  the  years  each 
waiting  in  turn  to  go  forth.  From  among  them  Fate  selected 
the  golden  years  to  attend  the  consulship  of  Stilicho,  to  renew 
the  virtue  and  happiness  of  the  first  ages,  and  the  pristine 
fertility  of  the  earth,  to  temper  the  seasons  to  the  continued 
mildness  of  spring,  and  to  restrain  those  signs  of  the  Zodiac 
that  cause  the  bitter  cold  of  winter  and  the  scorchins:  heat  of 
summer. 

A  century  changed  the  scene  altogether.  Men  learned  the 
emptiness  of   that  imperial  poAver    in   which   they  trusted. 


160  MASTER    VIRGIL 

Indescribable  ruin  overwhelmed  the  delicate  structures  raised 
by  the  fancy  of  the  great  poets.  Boethius  only  mentioned  the 
golden  age  to  regret  that  its  simplicity  and  virtue  and  kindli- 
ness could  never  again  be  known  upon  the  earth.  Those 
were  days,  he  said,  when  men  had  not  learned  to  mingle  their 
wine  with  honey,  when  their  simplicity  was  uncorrupted  by 
luxurious  living.  Commerce  was  unknown  and  war  was  not 
waged,  for  there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  it.  And  he 
added:  "Would  that  our  age  might  return  to  those  ancient 
vii'tues,  but  the  love  of  gain  burns  more  fiercely  than  the  fires 
of  ^tna." 


II 


We  may  well  believe  that  among  the  many  influences  to 
which  men's  views  of  life  were  subjected  at  the  close  of  classic 
times — influences  of  the  most  diverse  and  eccentric  character, 
the  sublimated  theories  of  Plato's  disciples,  Egyptian  hiero- 
phantism,  oriental  legends  distorted  by  the  Gnostics  and  the 
followers  of  Mani,  the  Hebrew  prophecies,  the  mysticism 
of  ApoUonius  and  Apuleius  and  the  supposititious  Hermes, 
the  prophetic  verses  that  had  obtained  a  place  in  pop- 
ular tradition,  and  the  allegories  inculcated  by  the  secret 
orders  of  the  pagan  priesthood — that  among  all  these  no  single 
work  exercised  a  greater  power  than  Virgil's  Pollio.  Events 
obscured  the  meaning  which  Virgil  intended  to  convey,  without 
diminishing  the  hold  taken  by  the  eclogue  on  the  imagination 
of  mankind.  An  unknown  writer,  taking  advantage  of  the 
renown  of  Virgil  and  of  the  obscurities  of  the  poem,  trans- 
ferred it  to  the  Greek  language ;  but,  instead  of  translating 
the  original,  made  a  paraphrase  in  which  his  impressions  were 


THE  PROPHET  161 

made  to  appear  as  the  poet's  own  thoughts.  It  was  this 
paraphrase  which  Constantine  is  said  to  have  used  iu  his 
address  to  the  CoDgregation  of  the  Faithful,  a  work  that  did 
more  to  place  the  fourth  eclogue  iu  a  legendary  relation  with 
Christianity  than  all  other  influences  put  together.  In  order 
to  show  the  liberty  taken  with  Virgil  by  the  Greek  paraphrast, 
it  will  be  most  convenient,  perhaps,  to  analyze  the  two  poems 
together,  since  they  have  both  been  often  interpreted  separately. 
Virgil  began  by  calling  on  the  muses  of  Sicily — that  is,  those 
who  had  inspired  the  genius  of  Theocritus — to  aid  him  now  in 
a  work  higher  than  any  he  had  yet  attempted ;  the  lowly  shrub 
and  humble  tamarisk  were  not  to  be  the  burden  of  this  song ; 
although  it  was  of  the  forest,  it  must  be  worthy  of  the  Consul 
Pollio,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  In  the  paraphrase,  this 
invocation  was  confined  to  a  single  verse  and  all  allusion  to 
Pollio  was.  avoided.  The  Greek,  however,  seized  upon  the 
verses  which  declared  that  the  last  age,  spoken  of  by  the 
Cuniiean  sibyl,  was  approaching,  and  that  a  great  race  was 
about  to  arise,  the  fullness  of  time  having  come.  Virgil's 
enigmatic  phrase,  "A  virgin  comes,"  suggested  doubtless  by 
Hesiod's  personification  of  justice,  was  accepted,  while  the 
equally  important  allusion  to  the  reign  of  Saturn  as  the 
model  of  the  coming  empire  was  passed  over  in  silence.  The 
Roman  poet  invoked  the  favor  of  chaste  Lucina,  whose  emblem 
was  the  moon,  in  behalf  of  the  babe  soon  to  be  born ;  the 
Greek  imitator  called  upon  the  moon,  the  light  bearer,  to 
adore  the  Child.  He  translated  with  exactness  the  words 
of  Maro  in  describing  the  child  as  the  overthrower  of  the  age 
of  iron  and  the  founder  of  a  golden  race,  but  neglected 
altogether  the  Virgilian  allusion  to  Apollo,  supposed  to  refer 
to  Octavian,  and  was  equally  oblivious  of  the  apostrophe  to 


162  MASTER   VIRGIL 

Pollio  in  which  it  was  predicted  that  he  should  see  the  opening 
of  that  glorious  time  now  foretold.  To  Pollio,  Virgil  addressed 
the  words:  "Under  thy  guidance,  if  any  vestige  of  human 
wickedness  remain,  they  shall  at  least  cease  to  cause  terror  to 
the  world."  But  the  paraphrast  has  transferred  the  thought 
to  the  babe  whose  future  is  the  theme  of  the  eclogue,  and  has 
expanded  the  purely  pagan  notion  expressed  in  the  words, 
sceleris  vestigia  nostri,  in  a  manner  that  could  only  have  been 
possible  to  one  who  understood  the  Christian  doctrine  of  sin. 
"Human  wounds,  the  sicknesses  and  groanings  of  sinners,  are 
relieved."  The  Homeric  alitros  is  used  of  sinners  instead 
of  the  words  customary  in  the  Scriptures,  but  the  thought 
of  wounds,  sickness  and  mourning  as  sin-begotten,  rather  than 
divinely  sent,  which  underlies  his  words  is  altogether  absent 
from  the  Latin.  Throughout  the  succeeding  passage,  however, 
in  which  Virgil  enlarged  upon  the  characteristics  of  the  happy 
time  now  dawning  upon  the  world,  the  Greek  was  commendably 
faithful.  The  child  soon  to  appear  among  men  should  take 
on  himself  a  divine  nature;  he  should  see  heroes  mingling 
familiarly  with  the  gods,  and  should  himself  be  one  of  them. 
Under  his  mild  government  men  were  to  recover  their  ancestral 
virtues.  The  earth  should  bring  forth  for  them  the  rarest 
flowers;  the  wandering  ivy,  the  rustic  spikenard  and  the 
colocasia  should  grow  alongside  the  blooming  acanthus.  The 
she  goats  should  return  to  the  fold  and  give  down  their  milk 
unbidden.  The  timid  flocks  should  no  longer  fear  the  lion. 
From  the  very  cradle  (here  the  Greek,  still  more  expressive, 
has  fpargana  swaddling  bands)  of  the  babe  should  spring 
living  flowers.  Serpents  should  jjerish  and  poisonous  herbs 
disappear,  and  in  their  place  should  grow  the  Assyrian  amoraum. 
The  wonderful  child  would  learn  the  praises  of  heroes  and  the 


THE  rnOPHET  163 

deeds  of  his  father,  so  that  he  might  know  what  virtue  is. 
The  wold  untouched  should  glow  with  the  yellow  of  the  ripen- 
ing corn,  and  the  purpling  grape  cluster  should  hang  on  the 
bramble,  while  honey,  like  the  dew,  distilled  from  the  bitter 
rind  of  the  oak  tree.  Still  a  few  traces  should  remain  of  the 
olden  time.  Seafaring  men  would  still  pursue  their  trade, 
cities  would  still  be  surrounded  with  walls,  and  the  peasant 
would  still  follow  the  plough.  Tiphys  would  come  again  and 
Argo,  manned  by  heroes;  again  must  Achilles  wage  war 
under  the  walls  of  Troy.  But  when  the  boy  became  a  man, 
the  sailor  would  abandon  the  sea,  the  merchant  would  no 
longer  make  long  voyages  to  enrich  himself.  The  earth 
everywhere  should  be  alike  fruitful ;  the  soil  should  not  need 
the  harrow,  nor  the  vine  the  pruning  hook,  and  the  ploughman 
could  now  release  the  ox  from  the  yoke.  Man  would  cease  to 
dye  the  w,ool  in  varied  colors,  for  the  ram  would  color  his  own 
fleece  with  purple  or  with  saffron,  and  the  sandyx  unbidden 
should  dress  the  grazing  lambs.  At  this  point  Virgil  intro- 
duced the  Fates  to  say  that  an  age  so  harmonious  must  continue 
forever.  But  Eusebius  failed  to  quote  these  verses  in  the 
Greek,  and  the  paraphrase  of  the  closing  lines  in  which  the 
poet  addressed  the  child  directly  is  so  close  to  the  original  as 
to  be  open  to  little  criticism.  This  might  well  be,  for  these 
lines  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  prophetic  discourse  which 
precedes  them. 

If  anything  had  been  needed  to  convince  the  early  Christians 
of  Virgil's  power  as  a  seer,  and  of  his  unique  relation  to 
Christianity,  the  address  of  Constantino  must  have  satisfied 
them.  It  was  quite  natural  for  the  author  of  the  address  to 
enlarge  in  the  same  connection  upon  the  sibyllines  without 
anticipating  that  the  effect  of  this  juxtaposition  would  be  in 


164  MASTER    VIRGIL 

later  times  to  bring  the  poet  and  prophetess  into  strange  com- 
panionship. The  author  of  the  ^neid  was  himself  to  blame 
for  much  of  this  error.  He  labored  to  increase  the  super- 
stitious regard  for  the  sibyl  which  cool-headed  men  like 
Cicero  had  condemned.  He  invested  the  traditions  that  hung 
about  the  neighborhood  of  Cumse  with  all  the  terror  and  mys- 
tery that  his  artistic  power  made  him  master  of,  caused  the 
weird  priestess  to  direct  ^neas's  way  through  the  realm  of 
shadows  and  appealed  to  her  utterances  in  order  to  give  the 
semblance  of  divine  inspiration  to  his  own  fancies. 


HI 


The  ethnic  respect  for  the  sibyl,  beginning  with  these  sug- 
gestions of  the  poet,  was  gradually  transferred  to  Virgil 
himself  by  the  Christian  apologists.  Lactantius,  who  belonged 
to  the  same  period  with  Constantine,  looked  upon  the  fourth 
eclogue  as  a  direct  translation  from  the  Cumsean  sibyl, 
Erythrsea,  and  interpreted  it  as  a  prophetic  vision  of  the  entire 
Christian  period,  including  the  second  coming  of  the  Saviour. 
Prophets,  he  remarked,  saw  the  events  of  the  future  as 
if  already  past,  and  so  a  portion  of  Virgil's  vision  remained  yet 
to  be  fulfilled.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
thoughts  of  Virgil  should  exercise  a  potent  influence  upon  the 
mind  of  Augustine.  He  confessed  with  some  qualms  of  con- 
science that  he  could  not  read  the  story  of  Dido  without  tears. 
In  his  youth  he  had  a  Dido  of  his  own,  so  to  speak,  for  he 
ruined  and  deserted  the  girl  who  loved  him. 

His  quotations  from  the  works  of  the  poet  were  numerous  and 
pertinent.  Whether  led  by  the  discourse  attributed  to  Con- 
stantine or  by  his  own  study,  he  was  persuaded  that  a  prophetic 


THE  PROPHET  165 

anticipation  of  Christ's  coming  was  shown  in  the  fourth 
eclogue.  He  admitted,  however,  that  Virgil  might  not  have 
been  conscious  of  the  full  meaning  of  his  own  words,  Avhich 
could  be  interpreted,  indeed,  only  in  the  light  of  history. 
The  phrases  used  poetically  of  another  person  were  realized  in 
the  character  of  the  Saviour.  Then  follows  a  remarkable 
sentence  in  which  Augustine  takes  up  the  sibyllist  myth  where 
Constantino  left  it,  and  carries  it  far  toward  its  mediieval 
completeness.  "That  he  did  not  say  this  at  the  prompting 
of  his  own  fancy,  Virgil  tells  us  in  that  verse  of  the  fourth 
eclogue  where  he  says,  'The  last  age  predicted  by  the  Cumtean 
sibyl  has  not  come,'  whence  it  plainly  appears  that  this  had 
been  dictated  by  the  Cumaaan  sibyl,"  an  unwarranted,  though 
not  unnatural  inference  from  Virgil's  words.  It  is  not 
pertinent  to  enter  deeply  into  the  discussion  of  a  question 
mysterious  in  itself  and  clouded  by  controversy.  It  will 
suffice,  perhaps,  to  give  in  the  words  of  Professor  Nettleship 
the  latest  theory  of  criticism  as  to  the  identity  of  the  babe 
concerning  Avhom  Virgil  prophesied  such  great  things. 

"Who  is  the  expected  child?  He  may  be  either  the 
offspring  of  Pollio,  or  Octavianus,  who  had  recently  married 
Scribonia.  The  allegorizing  style  of  the  poem  makes  any 
certain  interpretation  of  it  nearly  impossible,  the  more  so  as 
we  have  no  clue  to  any  Greek  model  which  Vergil  can 
be  shown  to  have  followed.  Speaking,  therefore,  with  great 
diffidence,  I  should  say  that  our  best  resource  is  to  con- 
nect the  fourth  eclogue  with  the  fifth  in  which  Julius 
Csesar  is  spoken  of  in  the  same  mystical  strain.  Does  the 
present  poem  then  refer  to  the  child  expected  from  the  recent 
marriage  of  Octavianus  and  Scribonia?  There  is  nothing  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  supposition ;  while  considering  the 


166  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

circumstances  of  the  year,  it  is  very  difficult  to  refer  it  to  the 
child  of  Pollio.  The  peace  of  Brundisium  had  apparently 
put  an  end  to  the  civil  war ;  Octavianus  and  Antonius  were 
masters  of  the  Koman  world.  Of  Antonius,  Yergil  can  not 
possibly  be  thinking;  nor  could  his  language  without  gross 
and  pointless  exaggeration  be  applied  to  the  offspring  of  Asinius 
Pollio.  The  coming  child  is  spoken  of  as  the  offspring  of  gods, 
and  as  destined  to  walk,  as  the  ruler  of  men,  in  the  footsteps 
of  his  fathers.  Now,  the  family  of  Asinius  Pollio  was  a 
provincial  one  of  no  great  note,  whereas  the  Julii  professed  to 
derive  their  descent  from  Venus,  and,  therefore,  Jupiter 
himself.  A^ergil's  language,  therefore,  may  very  well  apply  to 
the  descendants  of  Julius  Caesar ;  nor  should  it  be  forgotten 
that  in  the  Sixth  -^neid  he  expressly  speaks  of  Augustus  as 
destined  to  restore  the  golden  age." 

The  more  common  opinion  of  scholars,  however,  is  that 
the  child  spoken  of  was  the  son  of  Pollio,  Asinius  Gallus, 
who  was  an  important  personage  subsequently,  in  the  reign 
of  Tiberius.  "This  interpretation,"  writes  Professor  Sellar, 
"is  supported  by  the  authority  of  Asconius,  who  professed  to 
have  heard  it  from  Asinius  Gallus  himself.  The  objection  to 
this  interpretation  is  that  Virgil  was  not  likely  to  assign  to  the 
child  of  one  who,  as  compared  with  Octavianus  and  Anthony, 
was  only  a  secondary  personage  in  public  affairs,  the  position 
of  'future  ruler  of  the  world'  and  the  function  of  being  the 
regenerator  of  his  age.  Still  less  could  a  poem  bearing  this 
meaning  have  been  allowed  to  retain  its  place  among  Virgil's 
works  after  the  ascendency  of  Augustus  became  undisputed. 
Further,  the  line 

Cara  deum  siiholes,  ruagnum  lovis  incrementum 
(whatever  may  be  its  exact    meaning)  appears   an  extreme 


THE  PROPHET  167 

exaggeration  when  specially  applied  to  the  actual  son  of  a 
mortal  father  and  mother.  These  difficulties  have  led  some 
interpreters  to  suppose  that  the  child  spoken  of  is  an  ideal  or 
imaginary  representative  of  the  future  race.  But  if  we  look 
more  closely  at  the  poem,  we  find  that  the  child  is  not  really 
spoken  of  as  the  future  regenerator  of  the  age ;  he  is  merely 
the  first  born  of  the  new  race,  which  was  to  be  nearer  to  the 
gods  both  in  origin  and  in  actual  communion  with  them. 
Again,  the  words, 

Pacatumque  reget  patriis  virtutibus  orbem, 

would  not  convey  the  same  idea  in  the  year  40  B.  C.  as  they 
would  ten  or  twenty  years  later.  At  the  time  when  the  poem 
was  written  the  consulship  was  still  the  highest  recognized 
position  in  the  State.  The  consuls  for  the  year,  nominally,  at 
least,  wielded  the  whole  power  of  the  Empire,  The  words 
reget  orbcm  remain  as  a  token  that  the  Republic  was  not 
yet  entirely  extinct.  The  child  is  called  upon  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  great  offices  of  State  in  the  hope  that  he  should 
in  time  hold  the  high  place  which  was  now  held  by  his  father. 
The  words  patrus  virtutibus  imply  that  he  is  no  ideal  being, 
but  the  actual  son  of  a  well-known  father." 

But  down  to  a  recent  period  the  preponderance  of  critical 
opinion  was  in  fiivor  of  the  supposition  entertained  by 
Lactantius  and  Augustine,  that  A^irgil  was  the  mouth-piece 
of  a  prophetic  in^^iiration  whose  purpose  he  himself  did  not 
understand.  Some  traditional  characteristics  of  Virgil  were 
well  adapted  to  confirm  the  mediaeval  idea  of  his  fitness  for  the 
sacred  office  of  a  prophet.  The  tendency  of  Christianity  in 
those  times  was  to  intensify  the  reverence  felt  for  such  ascetic 
severity  and  purity  of  life  as  had  been  attributed  to  Virgil. 
The  gregarious  and  laughter-loving  Neapolitans  blundered  upon 


168  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

the  Greek  name  Parthenias  as  equivalent  to  Virgilius.  The 
ascription  of  virginity  thus  accidentally  given  was  adopted  in 
after  ages  with  all  seriousness.  In  pagan  times  such  personal 
character  was  considered  the  mark  of  the  true  philosopher. 
In  the  church  it  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  distinguishing 
the  religious  from  the  worldling,  as  deserving  of  reward  here- 
after and  as  conferring  superhuman  powers  in  this  present  life. 
Thus  Jerome  could  say :  '  'It  is  written  that  virginity  alone 
knows  the  counsel  of  God,"  and  "the  reward  of  virginity  is 
the  power  of  prophecy,"  as  if  he  were  stating  universal  propo- 
sitions. 


IV 


A  purely  literary  movement,  of  the  early  Christian  centuries, 
also,  became  an  increment  of  the  force  that  raised  Virgil  to  a 
legendary  place  in  the  church.  Throughout  the  period 
of  grammatical  activity,  the  professors  of  that  science  made 
such  use  of  Virgil  that  if  all  the  codices  of  his  works  were 
destroyed,  it  would  be  very  nearly  possible  to  reconstruct  the 
poems  from  the  vast  multitude  of  verses  cited  as  examples 
of  Latin  usage.  A  notable  instance  of  this  copious  use 
of  Virgil  is  that  of  Nonius,  a  writer  at  the  close  of  the  third 
century,  in  whose  treatise  the  poet  was  cited  fifteen  hundred 
times.  Striking  quotations  from  Virgil  were  even  more  com- 
mon than  phrases  from  Shakespeare  are  in  the  English 
speaking  world  of  to-day.  His  verses  continued  to  be  recited 
at  the  public  exhibitions,  as  late  as  the  sixth  century,  and  it  was 
by  no  means  unusual  in  the  lowest  times  of  the  decadence  for 
persons  in  the  schools  to  be  able  to  repeat  accurately  from 
memory  his  entire  poems.     It  was  natural  that  some  device 


THE  PROPHET  169 

should  be  found  for  utilizing  this  widespread  familiarity  with 
Virgilian  literature.  Doubtless  the  first  motive  of  the  Latin 
pedants  was  to  leave  nothing  undone  with  Virgil  that  was  done 
with  Homer.  The  fashion  of  centonizing  became  so  general 
as  to  mark  the  epoch  in  literary  history.  By  combining 
verses  and  parts  of  verses,  the  dexterous  but  servile  versifiers 
forced  the  poet  to  discourse  upon  subjects  the  most  diverse. 
The  Ciris,  frequently  included  among  the  supposititious  works 
of  Virgil,  is  probably  an  example  of  the  centonist's  art.  A 
tragedy  on  the  story  of  Medea  was  constructed  in  this  manner 
by  Ovidius  Geta.  Ausonius,  the  most  brilliant  man  of  his 
age,  yielded  to  the  taste  of  the  times.  He  was  prevailed  upon, 
although  against  his  own  judgment,  by  the  urgent  request 
of  the  Emperor  Valentinian,  whom  he  considered  a  man 
of  learning.  Apologizing  to  a  friend  for  his  production, 
Ausonius  called  it  a  frivolous  trifle,  of  no  weight  or  value,  which 
required  neither  care  nor  labor,  without  genius  or  maturity 
of  style — an  achievement  of  the  memory,  more  worthy  of  rid- 
icule than  praise.  It  was  a  disagreeable  thing  to  have  so 
violated  the  dignity  of  Virgil's  muse,  but  what  could  he  do, 
he  exclaimed,  in  the  face  of  the  imperial  command?  Valen- 
tinian had  himself  done  something  of  the  kind,  and  desired 
to  see  how  his  composition  would  look  beside  one  by  the  dis- 
tinguished Gallic  poet.  Paulus,  the  friend  to  whom  Ausonius 
wrote,  was  humbly  requested  to  be  indulgent  in  his  reading 
of  this  continuity  of  disconnected  things,  this  unity  of  diverse 
fragments,  this  joke  patched  up  with  a  succession  of  serious 
phrases,  this  bit  of  originality,  every  word  of  which  was  stolen, 
and  to  learn  from  one  who,  perhaps,  himself  needed  to  be  taught 
the  nature  of  the  thing  called  a  cento.  Ausonius  had  a  juster 
idea  of  the  real  merit  of  these  eccentric  productions  than  his 


170  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

contemporaries.     His  Epithalamiiim  is  a  clever  and  amusing, 

though  licentious  piece.     In  spite  of  his  condemnation,  he  must 

have  perceived  that  the  cento  had  an  interest  peculiarly  its  ovrn 

as  distinguished  from  an  original  work  even  of  the  highest  order 
in  that  it  was  replete  with  reminiscences  of  the  poetic  master 

whose  works  were  followed.  Every  phrase  called  up  some 
passage  familiar  to  the  readers  of  those  days  upon  which  the 
memorv  lingered  with  fondness.  It  has  been  demonstrated  in 
the  poems  of  Gray  that  a  method  analogous  to  that  of  the 
centonist  is  not  inconsistent  with  originality.  He  rigidly  ex- 
cluded from  his  verse  all  expressions  that  were  not  sanctioned 
by  the  earlier  English  poets.  The  result  is  that  the  attractive- 
ness of  Gray's  poems  grows  with  the  reader's  knowledge  of  his 
predecessors.  In  a  far  less  important  sense  the  same  was  true 
of  the  Yirgilian  and  Homeric  centos. 

A  scholar  like  Yictorinus,  upon  being  converted  to 
Christianity,  did  not  necessarily  feel  that  he  was  obliged 
to  give  up  a  study  which  had  been  the  occupation  of  his  life. 
He  chose  rather  to  cast  about  for  a  method  by  which  his 
learning  could  be  made  useful  to  the  new  faith.  The  wish  was 
well  met  in  the  form  of  the  cento.  That  Virgil  was,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  a  prophet  of  the  new  religion,  being 
accepted;  his  works  took  on,  to  some  extent,  the  aspect  of  a 
revelation.  Proba  Faltonia,  a  lady  of  the  Anician  family,  whose 
rank  and  wealth  and  culture  made  her  conversion  an  event  in 
the  history  of  the  church,  assumed  the  credit  of  having  first 
adapted  the  verses  of  Virgil  to  a  Christian  purpose.  By 
collating  verses  and  hemistichs  from  his  poems  she  put  the 
stories  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  into  a  new  form.  As 
she  dedicated  her  work  to  Honorius,  it  is  to  be  inferred  that 
she  was  a  contemporary  of  Claudian  and  Ausonius.     Having 


THE  PROPHET  171 

inherited  large  estates  in  Asia  from  her  ancestors,  she  devoted 
her  income  to  founding  religious  houses  and  churches,  so  that 
her  literary  achievements  were  only  a  secondar}'  matter  in  the 
estimation  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  time.  The  cento 
of  Proba,  which  comprises  seven  hundred  and  nineteen  verses, 
is  made  up  entirely  of  lines  from  Virgil,  from  the  ^neid 
chiefly,  but  some  from  the  bucolics  and  georgics.  The  con- 
straint of  such  a  production  sacrificed  naturalness  and  clearness 
at  times  to  so  great  a  degree  that  the  only  way  to  ascertain  the 
sense  Ls  by  resorting  to  the  parallel  passages  of  the  Biblical 
narrative.  She  probably  based  her  work  upon  the  old  Latin 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  which  went  by  the  name  of  Itala, 
though  it  is  not  impossible  that  she  may  have  read  the  version 
of  St.  Jerome.  Her  poem  is  divided  according  to  the  subjects, 
each  subordinate  narrative  having  a  superscription  of  its  own. 
In  a  work  of  such  a  character,  Proba  must  have  had  in  mind 
a  process  of  reasoning  analogous  to  that  from  proof  texts. 
Addressing  Honorius,  she  writes  : 

Spes  orbis,  fratrisque  decu«,  dignare,  Marone 
Mutato  in  melius  divlmim  agnoscere  sensum, 

and  in  another  place  : 

Virgilium  cecinLsse  loquar  pia  munera  Christi. 


We  may  suppose  that  the  like  was  true  of  the  poet  Eudocia, 
but  the  outcome  of  the  process  is  more  remarkable  iu  the 
brief  poem  of  Sedulius  on  the  "Word  made  Flesh,"  in 
which  verses  and  parts  of  verses  from  Virgil  are  woven 
with  some  skill  into  an  account  of  the  birth  of  Christ. 
The  author  of  this  eccentric  production  was  a  native  of 
Ireland,  who,  having  acquired  a  taste  for  letters  not  to  be 


172  MASTER   VIBGJL 

gratified  at  home,  betook  himself  to  the  continent  and  travelled 
extensively  in  Spain,  Gaul,  Italy,  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 
He  was  an  ecclesiastic  in  Spain,  a  litterateur  in  Achaia,  and 
finally  a  rhetorical  teacher  at  Rome.  Though  all  his  poetry 
was  in  its  purpose  religious,  it  evinced  throughout  a  diligent 
study  of  classical  models.  As  in  the  case  of  Proba,  his 
selections  were  mainly  from  the  -^ilneid,  though  he  took 
not  a  few  verses  from  the  georgics  and  the  eclogues. 
The  introduction,  as  paraphrased  rudely  below,  will  give 
an  idea  of  the  method  by  which  Sedulius  appropriated 
the  diction  of  Virgil,  the  fragments  within  quotation 
marks  being  those  found  in  Conington's  translation  of  the 
^neid : 

God  "sent  at  last  from  Heaven  above 
The  wished-for  token  of  His  love;" 
From  Heaven,  "all  calm  without  a  cloud," 
He  speaks  to  all  the  mortal  crowd 
Words  breathing  "love's  divinest  charm." 
"Son  and  Father  both"  with  praises  warm 
Be  sung  and  honored  "for  their  fame 
To  Heaven  shall  elevate  our  name." 
"The  sons  who  from  their  loins  have  birth 
Shall  see  one  day  the  whole  broad  earth. 
From  main  to  main,  from  pole  to  pole, 
Beneath  them  bow,  beneath  them  roll." 
Lest  mortal  minds  should  be  disturbed. 
Untaught  of  God,  with  doubts  uncurbed. 
Descended  from  his  heavenly  throne, 
God  took  the  form  of  man  unknown, 
"To  bridal  age  already  grown, 
A  virgin  of  a  royal  race — ." 

Thus  he  begins  his  version  of  the  Gospel  story.     To  Virgil 
and  his  companions  of  the  Augustan  age  the  verses  of  the 


THE  PROPHET  .  173 

Irish  rhetorician  would  have  seemed  as  lame  and  disjointed, 
perhaps,  as  these,  but  the  readers  of  the  fifth  and  succeeding 
centuries  were  incapable  of  so  nice  discernment.  While  it 
can  not  well  be  doubted  that  Sedulius  conceived  all  of  Virgil's 
poetry  to  be  underlaid  with  allegory  and  prophecy,  he  must 
also  have  felt  the  power  of  the  lines  which  he  quoted  in  recall- 
ing to  memory  the  pictures  wherein  they  had  formed  a  part. 
Short  as  the  poem  is — only  one  hundred  and  eleven  lines — it 
is  rich  in  such  suggestions.  Take  these  verses  from  the  middle 
of  it: 

lUe  dies  primus  lethi,  primusque  salulis 
Monstrat  iter  vobis  ad  eum,  quern  semper  acerbum 
Semper  honoratum  cuncti  celebrate  faventes. 
Annua  vota  tamen  noctem  non  amplius  unam 
Haud  segnes  vigilate  viri,  dapibusque  futuris 
Luce  palam  cumulate  piis  altaria  donis. 

Here  the  only  words  not  from  the  classic  jioet  are  those  in 
italics.  The  first  verse  which  Sedulius,  by  the  use  of  salidis 
for  malortcm,  has  turned  into  a  description  of  the  resurrection, 
was  by  Virgil  employed  to  condemn  the  unfortunate  passion 
of  Dido.  In  the  three  verses  that  follow,  the  Christian 
writer,  while  teaching  the  lesson  of  reverence  for  the  anni- 
versary of  Christ's  return  from  the  dead,  brings  to  mind, 
also,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  passages  of  the  ^neid — that 
speech  of  ^neas  in  which  he  recalls  the  day  of  his  father's 
death. 

In  the  midst  of  this  memory  come  the  words  celebrate 
faventes  to  carry  the  thought  suddenly  to  that  famous  feast  in 
Carthage  where  ^neas  related  the  story  of  his  wander- 
ings. Here  and  there  Sedulius  has  hit  upon  verses  which 
copied    entire    into    his    poem    came    to    the    reader    with 


174  '         MASTER   VIE  GIL 

almost  prophetic  force;  as,  for  example,  the  following 
passage,  nearly  all  the  allusions  of  which  are  to  the  fourth 
eclogue : 

Naecere  praeque  diem  venieus  age  lucifer  almum, 
Nascere,  quo  toto  surgat  gens  aurea  mundo, 
Unde  etiam  magnus  sseclorum  nascitur  ordo ; 
NaBcere,  ut  incipiant  magni  procedere  menses 
Xe  maneant  nobis  priscaj  vestigia  fraudis  ; 
Prospera  venturo  lastentur  ut  omnia  seclo 
Adgredere,  O  magnos,  aderit  jam  tempus  honoretj; 
Aspera  tum  positis  mitescenl  saecula  bellis, 
Pacatumque  regent  patriis  virtutibus  orbem. 
As  a  generous  paraphrase  of    these   lines  one  might  well 
select  the  verses  below  from  Pope's  splendid  eclogue  : 
From  Jesse's  root  behold  a  branch  arise 
Whose  sacred  flower  with  fragrance  fills  the  skies. 
All  crimes  shall  cease  and  ancient  fraud  shall  fail, 
Returning  justice  lift  aloft  her  scale  : 
Peace  o'er  the  world  her  olive  wand  extend, 
And  white-robed  Innocence  from  Heaven  descend 
Swift  fly  the  years  and  rise  the  expected  morn  ! 
Oh  !  spring  to  light ;  auspicious  Babe,  be  born. 
No  more  shall  nation  against  nation  rise, 
Nor  ardent  warriors  meet  with  hateful  eyes, 
Nor  fields  with  gleaming  steel  be  covered  o'er. 
The  brazen  trumpets  kindle  rage  no  more : 
Eut  useless  lances  into  scythes  shall  bend, 
And  the  broad  falchion  in  a  ploughshare  end 
These    extracts    serve    to    indicate    both    the   literary    and 
religious   tendencies   which    rendered   this   species   of   poetry 
popular.      It  maintained    its  hold  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
Jerome  condemned  it  severely  as  mere  foolishness.     The  poems 
of  Sedulius  and  Proba  were  read  with  so  much  reverence  that 
they  were   formally  relegated   by  Pope  Gelasius  to  a  ])lace 


THE  PROPHET  175 

among  the  apocryphal  writings,  lest  they  should  become  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  associated  with  the  productions  of 
acknowledged  fathers  of  the  church. 

VI 


Not  only  in  the  centos,  but  otherwise,  a  general  desire  was 
shown,  throughout  the  early  part  of  the  middle  ages,  to  read 
and  understand  the  Virgilian  poems,  and  to  put  them  to 
Christian  use.  Virgil  was,  above  all,  the  one  among  the 
Gentiles  to  whom  might  be  applied  the  Avords  of  the  evangelist, 
"They  heard  that  Jesus  passed  by."  It  seemed  a  thing 
worthy  of  compassion  to  see  born  in  the  time  of  the  "false  and 
lying  gods"  a  great  man  whom  his  works  and  the  traditions  of 
his  life  presented  as  a  soul  candid  and  beautiful,  and  such  an 
one  as  appf^ared  eminently  fitted  to  accept  the  words  of  Christ. 
Therefore,  Dante,  the  faithful  and  jjrofound  interpreter  of  the 
religious  sentiment  of  the  middle  ages,  placed  him,  not  among 
the  damned,  but  in  the  place  set  apart  for  those  whose  sin  had 
been  only  the  involuntary  one  of  being  born  before  the 
Saviour.  To  others  less  thoughtful  and  less  learned  than 
Dante,  Virgil  seemed  of  almost  equal  dignity  with  the  Hebrew 
prophets.  What  must  be  a  surprising  thing  to  those  who 
minimize  the  classical  knowledge  of  the  middle  ages  is,  that  in 
a  collection  of  tales  so  unstudied  and  so  evidently  popular  as 
the  Geda  Romanornm,  there  should  be  found  a  quotation  from 
Virgil  presented  in  a  manner  to  show  that  it  had  grown  trite 
from  frequent  repetition.  The  natural  supposition  would  be 
that  if  any  lines  of  Virgil  were  familiarly  quoted  by  the 
preachers  of  those  times,  the  selection  would  be  from  the 
fourth  eclogue,  and  such  w^as  the  case.      The  entire  passage  of 


176  MASTER    VIBOIL 

the  English  Gesta  in  which  the  translation  occurs  is  worthy 
of  being  transcribed  here.  "As  Pliny  records,"  thus  begins 
the  story  with  a  blunder  at  the  outset,  "there  was  a  tree  in 
India  whose  flowers  had  a  sweet  smell,  and  its  fruit  a  delighful 
flavor.  A  serpent  called  Jacorbus,  Avhich  dwelt  near,  had  a 
great  aversion  to  the  odor,  and  that  he  might  destroy  its 
productiveness,  envenomed  the  root  of  the  tree.  The  gardener, 
observing  what  was  done,  took  an  antidote  of  that  country  and 
inserted  it  in  a  branch  at  the  top  of  the  tree,  which  presently 
drove  the  poison  from  the  root.  The  tree,  before  barren,  was 
now  loaded  with  fruit."  Then  follows  the  application:  "The 
tree  is  man,  the  fruit  good  works.  The  serpent  is  the  devil, 
and  the  gardener  is  God.  The  branch  is  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary.  So  Isaiah,  'A  branch  shall  spring  from  the  root 
of  Jesse,'  and  thus,  also,  Virgil  in  the  second  of  his  bucolics: 

Mam  redit  et  virgo  redeunt  saturniii  regna  : 
Jam  nova  progenies  caelo  dimitlitur  alto. 
Tu  modo  naacendi  puero,  quo  fcrrea  primum, 
Desinet,  ct  toto  surget  gens  aurea  mundo."' 

The  error  in  attributing  these  verses  to  the  second  instead 
of  the  fourth  eclogue,  in  the  corruj)t  and  ignorant  use 
of  nascencU  for  nascenti,  and  of  et  for  ac  in  the  last  line, 
indicate  that  the  writer  Avas  putting  on  paper  what  he  had 
heard  over  and  over  again  from  the  pulpit,  and  that  because 
of  his  familiarity  with  the  fragment,  the  possibility  of  a 
mistake  did  not  even  suggest  itself  to  him.  The  insertion 
of  the  passage  into  the  Gesta  can  not  be  accounted  for  upon 
any  supjiosition  except  that  the  meaning  affixed  to  the  eclogue 
by  the  early  Christians  Avas  transmitted  from  age  to  age  by  the 
preachers  and  liomily  Avriters.  The  ignorance  of  the  class  to 
whom  these  collections  are  attributed  in  the  thirteenth  centurv 


THE  PROPHET  YJ'J 

was  too  dense  and  too  pervasive  to  have  admitted  such  a  stroke 
of  learning,  save  upon  the  delivery  of  tradition.  Nor  is 
there  anything  that  should  cause  surprise  in  the  hyj^othesis 
that  a  few  lines  of  verse  Avhich  appealed  so  strongly  to  the 
imagination  of  the  religious  should  have  been  kept  in  mind 
for  centuries.  The  memory  was  much  better  cultivated  in 
those  days  than  in  our  own.  Obviously  the  appeal  to  books 
was  incalculably  less  frequent  then  than  now,  and  the  anec- 
dotes, illustrations  and  moral  sayings  which  formed  the  most 
attractive  elements  of  conversation  and  extempore  discourses 
would  long  be  thought  unworthy  of  the  pen. 


VII 


In  the  epoch  when  the  legends  of  Virgilian  magic  were 
making,  the  notion  that  the  sibyl  prophesied  of  Christ  easily 
became  popular.  This  fancy,  due  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
imagination  of  the  apologists,  diffused  by  the  fathers,  Avas  in 
the  twelfth  century  a  current  belief,  not  only  with  the  clergy 
but  with  the  laity.  The  name  of  the  sibyl  was  frequent  from 
that  time  in  romantic  literature  and  her  figure  was  a  favorite 
one  with  artists.  The  idea  was  sufiiciently  picturesque  to  be 
grasped  by  the  -rudest  minds.  It  coincided  with  the  most 
familiar  doctrines  of  the  church,  and  was  elaborated  by 
mediaeval  theologians  as  an  incontestable  proof  of  the  divine 
origin  of  Christianity.  The  verse  of  the  Dies  Ircc, — Teste 
David  cum  sibylla,  was  a  melodious  expression  of  the  universal 
opinion.  The  hold  which  such  a  belief  would  naturally  liave 
upon  the  minds  of  men  was  strengthened  by  the  efforts  of  the 
preachers  who  found  it  admirably  suited  to  popular  sermons. 
But  it  was  best  of  all  adapted  to  the  mysteries  which,  while 


178  MASTER    VIRGIL 

embraced  iu  the  liturgic  ceremonies  of  the  church,  -were 
intimately  associated  with  other  forms  of  vernacular  poetry, 
and  these  were  jiotent  aids  to  tlie  distribution  of  such  an 
opinion.  No  personage,  real  or  imaginary,  connected  with 
the  narrative  of  the  Gospels  was  a  more  plastic  subject  for  the 
early  dramatists  than  the  sibyl.  ]Mainly  through  these  rude 
dialogues  did  she  rise  to  the  place  where  she  is  found  in  com- 
paratively late  literature,  a  place  of  so  high  regard  that 
volumes  have  been  wasted  in  grave  discussion  upon  the  question 
whether  or  not  the  prophecies  attributed  to  her  were  genuine. 
It  has  been  shown  how  the  Virgil  of  tradition  fell  into  relation 
with  the  sibyl.  He  became  familiar  to  the  popular  mind  in  a 
prophetic  aspect  the  more  easily  because  of  the  growth 
of  the  legend  which  converted  him  into  a  magician.  In  the 
preaching  adajjted  to  the  Nativity  there  was  ample  occasion 
to  recall  his  name  with  that  of  the  sibyl.  In  paintings  his 
figure  or  one  of  his  verses  accompanied  the  representation 
of  the  sibyl.  Li  the  mysteries  lie  was  not  infrequently  one 
of  the  characters;  as,  for  example,  in  the  Latin  drama  which 
was  presented  iu  the  Abbey  of  St.  Martial  at  Limoges  in  the 
eleventh  century,  and  that  was  wont  to  l)c  acted  at  Rheims. 
After  Moses,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Daniel,  Habakkuk,  David, 
Simeon,  Elizabeth  and  John  the  Baptist,  the  ])receutor  called 
Virgil,   saying: 

Vates  ^^a^o  gentiliura 

Da  Christo  testimonium. 

Virgil,  iu  dre^i.s  and  aspect  a  mere  youth,  advanced  to  his 
place  on  the  stage  and  exclaimed : 

Ecce  polo,  demissa  solo,  nova  progenies  est, 
an  utterance  so  unmusical  that   it  would  have  made  tlie  real 
Virgil  gnash  his  teeth.      Afterward  Nebuchadnezzar  and  the 


THE  PROPHET  179 

sibyl  were  each  called,  and  then  the  precentor,  turning  to  the 
Jews,  cried  out : 

Judica  incredula 

Cur  manes  adhuc,  inverecunda 

A  like  office  was  performed  by  Virgil  in  the  mystery  of 
Tlie  Foolish  Virgins,  and  in  other  mysteries  written  in 
German,  Dutch  and  other  languages.  In  a  long  dramatic 
composition  of  Arnold  Immessen,  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, by  a  singular  inversion  of  parts,  the  Cumsean 
sibyl  cites  Virgil  as  the  authority  from  whom  she  drew  her 
prophecy : 

l^Sibylla  Cunue.      (^tuejalt  tempore  Tarquinii  Pruxi ;] 
Ik  finde  ok  vandussen  saken 
Dat  de  meister  Virgilius 
Versch  gemaket  hebbe,  de  ludet  alsus : 
Magnus  ab  integro,  etc. 

In  a  mystery  written  in  Latin  in  the  eleventh  century 
Virgil  was  represented  as  accompanying  the  three  Wise  Men 
from  the  East,  who  were  guided  by  the  Star  to  Bethlehem, 
and  as  joining  with  them  in  singing  a  long  Benedicamm. 


VIII 


But  Virgil  does  not  always  have  a  place  in  the  mysteries. 
Sometimes  the  sibyl  is  the  only  representative  of  the  pagan 
prophets.  In  one  Latin  mystery  she  is  represented  as 
presaging  the  coming  of  Christ  by  observing  the  star  in  the 
east.  But  Fra  Diego  de  Valencia,  the  ancient  Spanish 
poet  writes  that  Virgil  was  the  first  who  saw  this  star 
shining  with  its  bright  rays  beyond  the  Grecian  land. 
Gradually    this     ideal     of    Virgil    as     a     prophet    mingled 


180  MASTER    VIRGIL 

with  the  magical  legend  and  thus  we  have  at  length  in 
the  mass  of  St.  Paul,  sung  at  Mantua  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  verses : 

Ad  ^Maronis  mausoleum 

Ductis  fudit  super  eum, 
Piaj  rorem  lachryma; ; 

Quern  te,  inquit,  redidissem 
Si  te  vivum  invenissem 

Poetarum  maxime ; 
alluding  to  the  narrative  invented  concerning  St.  Paul's  visit 
to  the  sepulchre  of  Virgil,  which  was  given  at  length  in  the 
French  romance  Vhnage  du  Monde.  According  to  this  legend, 
the  Apostle  who  was  a  man  of  much  learning,  when  he  went 
to  Rome  and  heard  that  Virgil  was  but  lately  dead,  was  sorely 
grieved,  especially  because  he  had  discovered  in  the  works 
of  the  poet  those  verses  which  applied  so  well  to  the  coming 
of  the  Saviour.  He  perceived  that  here  had  been  a  man 
disposed  to  welcome  Christianity;  and  he  deplored  the  fact 
that  he  could  not  preach  Christ  to  one  who  would  have  been 
so  eager  to  hear.  He  took  so  great  an  interest  in  the  memory 
of  Virgil  that  he  went  to  his  tomb.  The  journey  thither  was 
one  of  much  toil  and  trouble.  xVn  impetuous  wind  blew 
and  frightful  thunders  reverberated  over  the  traveller's  head. 
The  Apostle  could  see  Virgil  sitting  between  two  lighted 
tapers  and  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  books,  heaped  pro- 
miscuously upon  the  floor  of  the  cavern.  From  the  vaulted 
roof  of  the  sepulchre  hung  a  lamp,  and  facing  Virgil  stood  an 
archer  in  bronze  with  his  bow  drawn  as  if  about  to  shoot. 
These  things  were  to  be  seen  from  without  but  entrance  waa 
difficult.  At  the  portal  stood  two  bronze  figures  who  kept  up 
such  a  hammering  with  hammers  of  steel  before  the  gate  that 
it  seemed  impossible  to  pass  by  them.     St.  Paul  quieted  them 


THE  PROPHET  181 

and  went  on  seeking  the  book  of  necromancy,*  which  the  poet 
had  written  and  taken  to  the  tomb  with  him.  But  the  bronze 
archer  let  fly  his  bolt  extinguishing  the  lamp,  and  everything 
in  the  cavern  was  instantly  turned  to  dust. 

The  author  of  U Image  dii  Monde  manifestly  owed  his  fancy 
concerning  the  book  of  necromancy  attributed  to  Virgil,  to 
the  earlier  narrative  of  the  Dolopathos.  In  the  verse  of 
Berbers  it  is  related  that  Virgil,  though  a  wise  man,  could  not 
escape  death  which  comes  with  equal  certainty  to  the  fool  and 
the  sage.  AVhen  he  came  to  die  he  closed  his  hand  so  tightly 
upon  his  book  of  nigromance  which  he  had  written  for  hia 
pupil  Lucimien,  that  it  was  impossible  to  release  the  manu- 
script from  his  grasp  and  it  was  buried  with  him.  The 
conclusion  of  the  poem  shows  how  early  the  supposed  syn- 
chronism between  the  close  of  Virgil's  life  and  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  dispensation  became  the  theme  of  romance. 
Scarcely  were  Dolopathos  and  Virgil  dead  and  buried,  the  one 
at  Palermo,  the  other  at  Mantua,  when  a  preacher  of  the  new 
religion  appeared  in  Sicily.  Herbers,  as  if  to  prevent  any 
misconception  of  his  chronology,  declares  that  this  man  was 
one  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  expounded  the  new 
faith  to  tlie  Sicilians,  laying  particular  emphasis  on  the  divinity 
of  Jesus  and  the  need  of  redemption  on  the  part  of  mankind, 
because  of  Adam's  transgression.  While  the  missionary  was 
discoursing  to  the  crowd,  one  came  to  King  Lucimien  and 
informed  him  that  strange  doctrines  were  disseminating  among 
the  people.  The  king  commanded  that  the  preacher  should 
be  brought  before  him,  and  the  latter  spoke  so  wisely  in  his 
own  defence,  reciting  the  history  of  man's  sin  and  redemption, 
and  explaining  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  that  at  last 
Lucimien  acknowledged  himself  a  convert.     Among  the  rest, 


182  MASTER    VIRGIL 

the  i^reacher  cited  Virgil  as  liaving  anticipated  the  advent 
of  Christ  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  race  of  heavenly 
origin : 

Et  Virgiles,  ki  vos  aprist, 

Or  pansez  a  ceu  ke  il  dist ; 

Assez  en  parlait  propremant, 

Et  bien  et  bel  et  saigement ; 

II  dist  ke  novelle  lignie 

Estoit  jai  del'  ciel  envoie. 
The  last  two  verses  of  this  passage  are  obviously  a  paraphrase 
of  the  line  in  the  fourth  eclogue : 

Jam  nova  progenies  ccclo  dimittitur  alto. 
After  being  baptized,  and  seeing  all  his  subjects  devoted  to  the 
new  faith,  Lucimien  resigned  his  kingdom  and  made  a  pil- 
grimage on  foot  to  Jerusalem  Avhere  he  died. 


IX 


One  of  the  legends  told  by  the  preacher  in  his  sermon 
before  Lucimien  is  that  of  the  image  of  Romulus  which  was 
placed  in  the  Temple  of  Piety  and  Concord.  Uomulus  him- 
self set  it  up  saying  that  it  should  not  fall  until  a  virgin 
should  bear  a  son.  It  was  sometimes  said  that  the  temple 
which  fell  was  sacred  to  Bacchus,  and  that  its  destruction  was 
foretold  not  by  a  human  builder  or  sovereign,  but  by  an  oracle 
which  declared  that  it  should  stand  do7iee.  virgo  peperif.  Her- 
mannus  Gigas  collected  all  these  legendary  miracles  into  a 
single  sentence,  asserting  that  when  Christ  was  born,  a 
fountain  of  oil  burst  forth  at  Rome,  the  vines  of  Engaddi 
produced  balsam ;  all  sodomites,  of  whom  Virgil  was  one,  per- 
ished ;  the  ox  and  the  ass  bent  their  knees  in  worship ;  the 


THE  rnoPHET  183 

idols  of  Egypt  were  broken  to  pieces ;  the  image  of  Homulus 
tumbled  down ;  the  Temple  of  Peace  was  destroyed ;  three 
suns  were  seen  which  a  little  later  became  one ;  at  noonday  a 
golden  circle  appeared  in  the  sky,  Avithin  which  Caesar  beheld 
a  virgin  with  a  child  and.  heard  a  voice  crying :  Hie  est  areas 
cceli 

This  is  of  a  piece  with  the  miracle  which,  according  to 
the  mediteval  legends,  was  witnessed,  by  Augustus.  The  em- 
peror called  the  sibyl  to  hira  one  day  and  interrogated  her 
upon  the  divine  honors  which  had  been  decreed  to  him  by 
the  Senate.  The  sibyl,  who  is  described  in  the  Dolopatlios  as  a 
Sarrazine  responded  that  there  Avould  come  from  Heaven  a 
king  wlio  would  reign  forever.  Immediately  the  heavens 
opened  and  Augustus  beheld  a  virgin  of  marvellous  beauty 
seated  upon  an  altar,  with  a  babe  in  her  arms,  and  heard  a 
voice  sayiiig :  "This  is  the  altar  of  the  Son  of  God."  The 
emperor  prostrated  himself  in  homage  and  afterward  narrated 
his  vision  in  the  Senate.  On  the  spot  where  Augustus  stood 
when  the  vision  appeared  to  him,  a  church  was  erected,  and 
to  it  was  given  the  name  of  St.  Mary  on  the  Altar  of  Heaven. 
This  legend  was  related  by  a  Byzantine  writer  about  the  close 
of  the  eighth  century,  and  was  subsequently  introduced  into 
the  Golden  Legend,  into  the  Gesta  Romanorum  and  the 
MirahiUa  Urhh  Roma.  The  use  of  it  by  Herbers  attests  its 
popularity  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  theme  inspired  many 
of  the  church  painters,  and  was  frequently  touched  upon  by 
writers  of  all  degrees  of  merit.  Even  Petrarch  alludes  to  it 
in  one  of  his  letters.  The  motive  in  the  story  was  similar  to 
that  in  the  story  of  the  statue  set  up  by  Romulus,  which  was 
cited  as  a  miracle  to  prove  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity, 
because  when  Christ  was  born  the  statue  fell  and  was  broken 


184  MASTER    VIRGIL 

to  pieces.  This  story  was  soon  woven  into  the  fabric  of 
Virgilian  magic,  as  is  shown  in  Neckam's  account,  and  lost  its 
early  significance.  The  idle  boast  of  Romulus  became  a 
fragment  of  Virgilian  prophecy.  The  fancy  was  afterwards 
developed  in  a  strange  poem.  It  is  in  French,  and  appears  to 
be  really  an  awkward  combination  of  two  distinct  poems,  one 
of  which  might  be  called  The  Romance  of  Vespasian,  the  other 
the  Deeds  of  the  LotJiaringiaiis  with  a  third  narrating  the 
acts  of  St.  Severinus,  connecting  him  genealogically  on  the 
one  side  with  Vespasian  and  on  the  other  with  Hervis  and 
Garin  of  Lorraine.  The  rhapsodist  is  not  content  merely  to 
ally  the  family  of  a  Roman  emperor  with  that  of  certain 
medioeval  heroes.  In  The  Romance  of  Vespasian,  having  de- 
scribed the  punishment  of  the  Jews  for  the  death  of  Christ, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  linking  that  event  into  the  chain 
of  Old  Testament  history.  To  accomplish  this  he  invented  a 
fantastic  tale,  in  which  Virgil  was  made  the  leading  character. 
Instead  of  Augustus  or  Romulus,  he  had  for  emperor  of  Rome 
a  nondescript  personage  whom  he  called  Noirons  li  Arabia. 
Undoubtedly  he  meant  Xero,  who  had  become  an  extraordinary 
character  in  mediaeval  legend.  Noirons  was  a  worshipper  of 
devils  and  of  Mahons  (Mohammed),  and  was,  therefore,  wholly 
a  creation  of  the  poet's  fancy.  In  honor  of  his  god,  Mahons, 
he  built  a  palace,  all  shining  with  gold  and  gems  and  taking 
Virgil  to  see  it,  said:  "You,  who  know  everything,  tell  me 
how  long  my  palace  will  last."  Virgil  replied  that  it  would 
stand  until  a  virgin  should  bear  a  son.  "Then  it  will  stand 
forever,"  exclaimed  Noirons,  "for  what  you  say  can  never  be." 
"But  one  day  it  will  be,"  answered  Virgil;  and  thirty  years 
afterward  Christ  was  born  and  the  palace  tumbled  down. 
Noirons  in  a  great  rage  caused  Virgil  to  be  brought  before 


THE  PBOPHET  185 

him,  and  demanded  a  full  explanation  of  the  prophecy  which 
had  been  fulfilled.  Virgil  began  to  speak  of  the  new  faith, 
but  the  emperor  refused  to  hear  him. 

Finally  Noirons  challenged  Virgil  to  single  combat  in  order 
to  decide  by  wager  of  battle  Avhose  religion  was  the  more 
powerful.  The  battle  was  to  be  to  the  death,  for  the  conqueror 
was  to  cut  off  his  oj^ponent's  head.  Virgil  agreed  to  this,  but 
requested  tirst  that  he  might  have  time  to  return  home  and 
consult  with  his  family  and  with  Hippocrates,  his  mastci',  and 
with  other  wise  men.  These  came  together  at  his  bidding 
and  he  related  all  the  circumstances  of  his  quarrel  with  the 
emperor.  Hippocrates  resorted  to  his  books,  and  there  found 
the  narrative  of  the  events  that  foreshadowed  the  advent 
of  Christ.  He  recited  this  in  detail  to  Virgil.  Armed  with 
this  knowledge,  Virgil  entered  the  lists  confident  of  victory. 
On  the  other  hand,  Noirons,  perceiving  that  the  armor  of  his 
adversary  was  of  ponderous  and  unwieldy  make,  felt  sure  of  an 
easy  triumph.  He  told  the  story  of  Lucifer  and  of  the  rebel 
angels  who  were  changed  into  demons,  and  declared  himself  to 
be  one  of  them.  Virgil  responded  with  an  abstract  of  Biblical 
history,  beginning  with  the  creation.  In  this  long  debate,  the 
romancer  forgot  all  about  the  duel  that  was  to  be  fought,  and 
it  is  only  in  an  additional  scene  where  Noirons  meets  his 
master,  Mahous,  in  hell  that  we  learn  how  the  battle 
ended.  Bizarre  and  absurd  as  the  poem  is,  it  preserves  the 
conception  of  Virgil  as  a  prophet.  In  the  contemporary  Ger- 
man romances,  Virgil  lost  that  character  altogether.  It  was 
merely  by  accident  that  he  discovered  the  magical  formula 
with  which  the  inventor  of  astrology  sought  to  prevent  the 
coming  of  Christ.  His  own  relation  to  the  event  seemed 
only  the  fortuitous  one  of  being  alive  when  it  occurred. 


186  31  ASTER    VIE  OIL 

Perhaps,  tlie  most  satisfactory  theory  by  wliich  to  account 
for  these  absurdities  is  to  supj)Ose  that  the  2:)opular  mind, 
having  been  led  gradually  to  accept  as  history  the  tales 
of  Virgilian  magic,  and  having  learned  from  hymns  and 
sermons  the  supposed  relations  of  Yirgil  to  the  sibyl  and  to 
Christianity;  conscious,  moreover,  in  a  vague  way  of  his 
relations  to  the  ancient  world,  but  feeling  a  familiarity  with 
his  name  as  if  it  belonged  to  recent  times — in  seeking  to 
picture  him  before  the  imagination  could  never  develop  a 
symmetrical  character.  A  magician  to  satisfy  the  then  com- 
mon notion  of  such  a  being,  must  be  entirely  bad,  cruel  and 
malevolent.  On  the  other  hand,  a  prophet  who  had  foretold 
the  coming  of  Christ,  and  had  accompanied  his  predictions 
with  a  joyous  song  of  triumph,  must  have  been  one  of  the 
best  of  men.  Then  the  mediicval  imagination  could  not 
easily  bridge  the  gulf  between  the  antique  and  the  modern 
Virgil  was  looked  upon  as  belonging  both  to  the  world  that 
had  passed  away  and  to  the  one  which  still  existed,  and  between 
those  two  worlds  there  was  a  period  of  indefinite  length.  A 
proper  perspective  could  never  be  had  of  a  figure  that  might 
be  placed  at  any  point  in  a  series  of  centuries. 


X 


The  work  of  Jean  d'Outremeuse,  which  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  illustrated  the  final  stage  in  the  work  of  systematiz- 
ing and  harmonizing  the  conflicting  legendary  conceptions 
of  Virgil.  His  Ly  Myreur  des  H'lstors  was  a  compilation  from 
many  authors  of  various  epochs  down  to  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Some  of  these  writers  the  author  named, 
the  influence   of    others   whom    he   has  not   named   can    be 


THE  PROPHET  187 

discerned,  particularly  in  that  portion  of  his  chronicle  which 
related  to  ancient  history.     An  enormous  medley  of  legends 
and  fantastic  tales  the  author   gathered,  also,  which  can  be 
traced    to    no    definite    source.       The    biography   of  Virgil 
alternates  with  other  fictitious  narratives   in    the  semblance 
of  some  chronological  order.     So  particular  was  d'Outremeuse 
in  the  matter  of  dates  that  when  he  had  none  at  hand  he 
invented  such  as  suited  him.     In  i-elating  the  Avonders  attributed 
to  Virgil,  he  had  in  mind  principally  L' Image  du  Monde,  though 
he  used,  in  addition  to  that  romance,  other  French  and  Latin 
writings  in  which  the  marvels  sought  by  him  were  described. 
He  aimed  to  collect  all  the  legends,  and  often  gave  several 
different  versions  of  the  same  story.     Some  of  the  tales  which 
he  related  were  apparently  of  his  own  invention.     Others  he 
elaborated   from   the   simple    outlines    furnished    by   earlier 
writers.     Throughout  his  work,  however,  he  manifestly  strove 
to  draw  a  broad  line  of  demarcation  between  the  historical 
Virgil  as  presented  in  the  biography  attributed  to   Donatus 
and  the  prophet-magician  whose  adventures  Avere  most  to  his 
purpose.     In  a  measure  his  work  might  be  said  to  resemble 
the  historical  novel   of  recent  times,  in  which  the   names  of 
persons  who  once  lived   are   linked   to   a  series  of  incidents 
wholly  fictitious.     It  is  possible,  however,  that  he  may  have 
looked  upon  the  legendary  Virgil  as  a  real  personage  entirely 
separate  from  the  Augustan  poet.     The  exclusion  of  every 
incident  bearing  the  stamp  of  history — in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  work  throughout  evinces  the  acquaintance  of   the 
author  with  classical  subjects — would  seem  to  be  the  result 
of  design.     The  idea  of  Virgil  as  a  prophet  of  Christ  became 
in  his  hands  the  most  notable  part  of  the  legend.     If  this 
idea  had  not  been  a  popular  one,  the  work  would  have  tended 


188  MASTER    VI ROIL 

to  make  it  so.     D'Outremeuse,  with  whom  everything  was  fish 
that  got  into  his  net,  used  whatever  seemed  a  plausible  argu- 
ment for  uniting  the  magical  and  prophetic  ideals  in  a  con- 
sistent personality.     Avoiding  all  reference  to  the  sibyl  and 
the   fourth  eclogue,   he  introduced  Virgil   preaching   to  the 
Romans  and  the  Egyptians,  thus  converting  him  into  a  sort 
of  heathen  John  the  Baptist.     He  manufactured  a  sermon  for 
Virgil  in  this  novel  character,  which  comprised  all  the  partic- 
ulars of  the  life  and  death  of  the  Saviour,  explained  the  unity 
of  God,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  all  the  other  articles  of 
the  creed.     In  the  form  of  this  discourse,  the  author  had  many 
exemplars;    for   instance,  the   sermon  which   the   missionary 
preached    in   the   Dolopathos   was   constructed    upon    similar 
outlines.     A^irgil's  jireaching  converted  to  the  new  faith  many 
who,  the  writer  is  careful  to  explain,  were  of  the  elect.     But  the 
mission  to  the  Romans  did  not  j^revent  the  A^irgil  of  d'Outre- 
meuse  from  indulging  in  magical  practices.     He  had  legions 
of   demons   at   his   command.     When   the  prophetic   brazen 
head  announced  that  his  death  was  approaching,  he  remanded 
this   horde    of  diabolical   servitors   to   their   infernal    abode, 
solemnized   his   act   of    faith   and   completed    a   book    upon 
Christian  doctrine  for  the   use  of  his  converts.     On  the  last 
day  of  his  life  he  gave  a  dinner  to  a  great  concourse  of  guests 
upon  whom  he  impressed  anew  the  importance  of  his  teachings. 
Then  he  clasped  in  his  hands  a  book  on  theology,  and  placed 
himself  on  a  low  bench  carved  with  representations  of   the 
events  of  the   New   Testament,  Avhere   he   remained   seated, 
apparently  asleep  until  the  arrival  of  St.   Paul.     When  the 
Apostle  touched  his  cloak,  his  body  crumbled  to  ashes.     St. 
Paul  grieved  at  first,  believing  that  Virgil  died  a  pagan,  but  was 
consoled  by  reading  the  book  which  the  prophet  had  written. 


THE  PROPHET  189 

XI 

The  attempt  having  been  made  in  these  pages  to  point  out 
the  traits  of  human  nature  which  encouraged  the  growth 
of  legends  like  those  concerning  Virgil,  it  will  not  be  out 
of  place  to  describe  the  character  which  was  subsequently 
nourished  upon  them.  In  the  fierce  conflict  of  Papist  and 
Protestant,  there  appeared  a  type  of  human  being,  relentless, 
unforgiving,  implacable,  rigid  in  morals,  arrogant  in  dogmatic 
self-assertion,  who  dispensed  with  triumphant  malice  the 
sentences  of  eternal  life  and  death,  which  only  the  Most  High 
in  any  other  age  has  dared  to  pronounce,  and  seconded,  where 
ne  could,  the  sentence  of  everlasting  perdition  witli  immediate 
penalties  in  this  present  world.  The  factors  which  contributed 
to  the  formation  of  this  species  of  human  character  were  too 
many  to  be  easily  enumerated,  but  the  eagerness  with  which  it 
seized  upon  the  superstitions  respecting  Virgil,  and  particularly 
those  concerning  the  fourth  eclogue,  indicate  clearly  enough 
its  tastes  and  some  of  its  tendencies.  A  person  of  this  sort  is 
portrayed,  not  without  some  strokes  of  malice,  in  that  gloomy 
and  forbidding  fiction,  William  Godwin's  Mandeville.  The 
reverend  Hilkiah  Bradford,  in  spite  of  his  grave  kindliness 
toward  those  whom  he  loved,  was  the  embodiment  of  religious 
hatred.  Just  and  upright  and  gentle  as  he  was,  only  the 
opportunity  was  lacking  to  have  made  him  a  deadly  persecutor 
of  those  who  differed  from  him  in  points  of  doctrine.  He 
regarded  light  laughter  and  merriment  and  the  frolics  of 
youth  as  indications  of  the  sons  of  Belial  and  heirs  of  destruc- 
tion. His  figure  was  tall  and  emaciated,  his  complexion  was 
of  a  yellowish  brown,  without  the  least  tincture  of  vermillion, 
and  was  furrowed  with  the  cares  of  studv  and  the  still  more 


190  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

earnest  cares  of  devotion.  His  gait  was  saintly  and  solemn. 
He  was  familiarly  conversant  with  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  and  with  poetry;  "Yet  I  must  own,"  continues 
Godwin's  bitter  and  cynical  hero,  "that  he  did  not  receive 
exactly  the  same  sensations  from  Ovid  and  Yirgil  that  I  did. 
He  had  a  clear  apprehension  of  their  grammatical  construc- 
tion ;  but  he  was  not  electrified,  as  I  often  was,  witli  their 
beauties.  The  parts  in  which  he  most  seemed  to  delight  were 
those  in  which  these  poets  bore  the  most  resemblance  to  certain 
passages  of  sacred  writ ;  so  that,  as  Mr.  Bradford  persuaded 
himself  to  believe,  they  must  have  had  some  undiscovered  access 
to  the  fountains  of  inspired  wisdom.  He  found  the  ]\Iosaic 
account  of  the  creation  in  the  commencement  of  the  Meta- 
morphoses, and  the  universal  deluge  in  Deucalion's  flood.  But 
above  all  he  was  struck  with  the  profoundest  admiration  in 
reading  the  Pollio  of  Virgil ;  he  saw  in  it  clearly  a  translation 
of  the  inspired  raptures  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  foretelling  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  he  exclaimed,  as  he  went  on,  with 
a  delight,  a  thousand  times  repeated  and  never  to  be  con- 
trolled: 'Almost  thou  persuadest  me  that  thou  art  a 
Christian'"' 


J^  1 X  T  H-V I B  G I LIJ^  LA  T  E  R  LITERATURE 


From  the  foregoing  pages  it  will  have  been  inferred  that 
the  Virgilian  legends,  so  far  as  they  concerned  the  poet 
himself,  had  only  a  secondary  connection  with  what  is 
scientifically  known  as  folk-lore.  They  were  the  product 
throughout  of  the  literary  spirit  of  times  clouded  by 
superstition,  The  popular  element  in  them  is  the  element 
which  antedated  their  relation  to  Vii'gil.  The  opinion 
that  they  or  any  of  them  were  first  brought  into  relation 
with  Virgil's  name  by  the  Neapolitan  populace  meets  with 
an  insuperable  objection  in  the  fact  that  Italian  writers,  both 
learned  and  popular,  were  far  behind  the  writers  of  other 
nations  in  taking  them  vip.  Not  only  the  Neapolitans,  but  all 
Italians  felt  a  natural  repugnance  to  connecting  the  name 
of  the  poet  with  diabolism  or  with  magic.  It  was  only  after 
the  early  romancers  of  Northern  and  Western  Europe  had 
linked  Virgil's  name  to  a  series  of  magical  legends,  and  after 
men  of  learning  like  Neckam  and  Helinand,  and  Gervase  and 
Conrad  and  Vincent  of  Beauvais  had  attached  their  names  to 
them,  that  the  Italian  writers  consented  to  accept  them.     Not 


192  MAS  TEE    VIRGIL 

until  near  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  do  we  find  them 
told  as  matter  of  history  by  a  Neapolitan.  The  Cronica  di 
Partenope  was  completed  by  Bartolomeo  Caracciolo  about  the 
year  1382.  It  was  ostensibly  a  compilation  from  a  great 
number  of  earlier  works,  and  in  what  was  related  of  Virgil 
the  author  depended  mainly  upon  the  stories  told  by  Gervase, 
and  by  one  Alexander,  whose  identity  is  doubtful.  Such 
incidents  as  he  added  to  those  told  by  Gervase  might  easily 
hav^e  been  associated  with  the  biography  of  Virgil  after  the 
magical  legend  received  its  form  in  the  twelfth  century. 
With  Caracciolo,  Virgil  figured  as  a  great  benefactor  of  Naples, 
when  counsellor  and  quasi  director,  or  teacher  of  Marcellus, 
who,  according  to  the  mediaeval  historians,  had  been  appointed 
Duke  of  Naples  by  Octavianus.  It  was  Virgil  w^ho  constructed 
the  aqueducts  and  the  fountains  ami  excavated  the  wells  and 
the  sewers  of  the  city.  He  devised  games  for  the  amusement 
of  the  populace.  To  the  number  of  talismans  attributed  to 
Virgil,  this  chronicler  added  a  cicada  of  brass,  which  destroyed 
the  cicadas  of  the  region  about  Naples ;  and  a  little  fish  in 
stone,  deposited  in  a  place  known  as  the  Freta  de  lo  Pesce,  which 
had  the  virtue  of  bringing  good  luck  to  the  fishermen.  The 
idea  of  diabolism  was  obnoxious  to  Caracciolo.  He  conceived 
the  wonderful  book  found  by  Virgil  to  have  been  a  scientific 
treatise  and  insisted  that  the  grotto  of  Pozzuoli  was  opened  by 
the  aid  of  geometry.  He  was  careful  to  add  nothing  of  his 
his  own  invention  and  in  concluding  his  account  of  the 
Virgilian  legends  he  remarked:  "I  could  of  the  said  Virgil 
tell  many  other  things  which  I  have  heard  said  of  him ;  but 
for  the  reason  that  they  appeared  to  be  in  great  part  mere 
fables,  I  did  not  wish  to  fill  the  minds  of  my  readers  with 
omens  and  dreams.     Moreover,  I  have  already  set  down  many 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE 


193 


things  concerning  Virgil  out  of  authors  whom  I  am  less  ready- 
to  trust  as  to  those  things  than  as  to  other  matters  which  they 
have  treated  of.     I  beg  the  reader  to  pardon  me  for  being 
reluctant  to  cloud  the  fame  of  so  great  a  poet  with  any  more 
such  anecdotes,  let  them  be  true  or  false ;  and  for  being  loth 
to   do   violence  to   my   affection    for   our   renowned   city   of 
Naples.     The  truth  of  these  things  God  alone  knows.     I  have 
said  thus  much  in  order  that  I  may  not  present  anything  of 
which  there  is  doubt,  without  warning  those  who  shall  read  my 
book."     There  are  fugitive  allusions  to  the  Virgilian  legends 
in  the  poems  of  Roger  of  Apulia,  Cino     of    Pistoia,  and   in 
Boccaccio's  Commentary   on    Dante.     Antonio   Pucci  left   a 
memorandum  of  them  in  his  desk  which  he  may  have  intended 
to  put  to  some  use.     He  included  the  bronze  fly,  the  bronze 
horse,  the  castle  balanced  on  an  egg,  the  garden  surrounded 
by  a  wall  of  air,  the  inextinguishable  candles  and  lamp,  the 
prophetic  head  of  bronze,  and  spoke  of  the   regard  felt  for 
the  relics  of  the  poet.     The  fact  that  he  placed   the  tomb 
of  Virgil  at  Rome  supports  the  opinion  that  he  merely  noted 
these  anecdotes  down  in  his   reading,   with  the  expectation 
of  putting  them  to  some  use.     He  certainly  knew  better  than 
to  have  made  such  a  statement  as  a  fiict,  even  iu  the  Florence 
of  the  fourteenth  century.     His  notion  of  Virgil's  power  was 
that  it  was  due  to  science,  not  magic,  and  a  similar  opinion  was 
held  by  Gidino,  a  contemporary  poet.     In  Mantua  the  writers 
who  alluded  to  A^irgil  manifested  first  of  all  an  acquaintance 
with  Virgil's  real  character.     Their  fancies  did  not  at  the  outset 
do  violence  to  his  fame  as  a  poet,  nor  to  his  position  as  a  man 
of  learning.     These  writers  did  not  forget  that  Virgil  was  born 
at  Mantua.     As  may  be  inferred  from  some  lines  of  Donizo 
certain  places  about  the  city  were  associated  with  his  memory. 


194  MASTER    VIRGIL 

The  city  imprinted  his  image  on  its  coins  and  erected  a  statue 
to  his  memoiy  in  the  fourteenth  century,  but  these  tributes 
were  the  outcome  of  literary  taste  and  culture.  This  fact  is 
plainly  revealed  in  the  local  chronicle  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  Aliprajidina,  because  it  was  the  work  of  Buonamente 
Aliprando,  who  Avrote  it  about  the  year  1414.  The  absurdity 
of  the  composition  and  the  fantastic  things  accumulated  in  it 
show  that'  if  Mantua  had  any  local  legends  respecting  Virgil, 
here  was  the  very  author  to  have  gathered  them  up.  Their 
absence  from  his  work  proves  that  they  did  not  exist.  He 
described  Virgil  as  the  glory  of  Mantua  and  wove  a  biography 
partly  from  Donatus  and  partly  from  the  common  stock 
ofVirgilian  legends.  Beginning  by  an  allusion  to  the  father 
of  Virgil  and  to  the  prophetic  dream  which  Virgil's  mother 
had  previous  to  his  birth,  he  described  the  personal  apj^earance 
of  the  poet,  his  studies  and  his  writings,  mentioned  the  loss 
and  subsequent  recovery  of  his  farm,  and  related  how  he  was 
brought  to  the  notice  of  Octavian  by  the  lines  beginning  Node 
pluit.  After  bringing  out  tlie  prophetic  character  of  Virgil, 
he  narrated  the  adventure  of  the  basket  and  enumerated  a 
few  of  the  talismans  attributed  to  him.  His  account  of  the 
death  of  Virgil  is  substantially  that  of  Donatus  with  some 
additions  respecting  an  imagined  funeral,  among  the  rest  an 
oration  by  Octavian.  iNotwithstandiug  this  oration  and  the 
character  given  to  Virgil  as  a  prophet,  Aliprando,  more  cor- 
rupted by  his  Teutonic  models  than  his  Italian  contemporaries, 
looked  upon  Virgil  as  a  thorough  magician,  in  the  closest  rela- 
tions with  Satan,  and  equipped  Avith  his  indispensable  book 
of  necromancy.  So,  also,  in  some  of  the  Latin  biographies 
of  the  poet  written  toward  the  close  of  the  middle  ages,  the 
figment  of  the  magician  and  astrologer  was  taught  as  a  matter 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  195 

of  fact.  But  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century  a  case  occurred 
that  showed  how  little  to  the  taste  of  the  Italian  public  the 
stories  of  Virgilian  magic  truly  were.  The  anonymous  author 
of  the  History  of  Prince  Erastus,  a  version  of  The  Seven  Wise 
Masters,  when  he  came  to  the  story  which  is  usually  told 
of  Virgil,  substituted  another  personage  and  changed  the 
name  of  Rome  to  that  of  an  imaginary  city. 


II 


With  the  leaders  of  the  Latin  revival  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  Virgil  was  restored  to  the  place  in  which 
Macrobius  had  left  him.     While  he  was  honored  with  praise 
beyond  his  merit  as  a  poet,  the  legendary  characteristics  that 
had  been  attributed  to  him  were  steadily  ignored.     The  flower 
of  that  period  was  the  passage  in  the  Poetics  of  Vida,  which 
was  worthy  even  of  the  Augustan  age.     Vida  wrote : 
VirgUii  ante  omnes  Iseti  hie  super  astra  feremus 
Carminibus  patriis  laudes  ;  decus  unde  Latinum, 
Undemihi  vires,  animus  mihi  ducitur  unde. 
Primus  ut  Aoniis  musas  deduxerit  oris, 
.   Argolicum  resonans  Romana  per  oppida  carmen  ; 
Ut  juvenis  Siculas  silvis  inflarit  avenas  ; 
Utque  idem  Ausonios  animi  miseratus  agrestes, 
Extulerit  sacros  ruris  super  a^thera  honores, 
Triptolemi  invectus  volucri  per  sidera  curru  : 
Res  demum  ingressus  Romans  laudis  ad  arma 
Eicierit  Latium  omne,  Phrygumque  instruierit  alas, 
Verba  deo  similis.    Decus  a  te  principe  nostrum 
Omne,  pater  !  tibi  Grajugenum  de  gente  trophtea 
Suspendunt  Itali  vates,  tua  slgna  sequuti. 
Omnis  in  Elysiis  unum  te  Grsecia  campis 
Miraturque,  auditqiie  ultro,  assurgitque  caneati. 


196  31  AS  TEE    VIRGIL 

Te  sine  nil  nobis  pulchrum  :  omnes  ora  Latini 
In  te,  oculosque  ferunt  versi;  tua  maxima  virtus 
Omnibus  auxilio  est ;  tua  libant  carmina  passim 
Assidui,  primis  et  te  venerantur  ab  annis. 
Ne  tibi  quis  vatum  certaverit;  omnia  cedant 
Saecla,  nee  invideant  primes  tibi  laudis  honores. 
Fortunate  operum  !  tua  prsestans  gloria  f  amae, 
Quo  quenquam  aspirare  nefas,  sese  extulit  alls. 
Nil  adeo  mortale  sonas ;  tibi  captus  amore 
Ipse  suos  animos,  sua  munera  laetus  Apollo 
Addidit,  ac  multa  prsestantem  insigniit  arte 
Quodcanque  hoc  opis,  atque  artis,  nostrique  reperti, 
Uni  grata  tibi  debet  prseclara  juventus, 
Quam  docui,  et  rupis  sacrse  super  ardua  duxi, 
Dum  tua  fida  lego  vestigia,  te  sequor  unum, 
O  Decus  Italia? !  lux  o  clarissima  vatum ! 
Te  colimus,  tibi  serta  damns,  tibi  thura,  tibi  aras 
Et  tibi  rite  sacrum  semper  dicemus  lionorem, 
Carminibus  memores  ;  salve,  sanctissime  vates ! 
Laudibus  augeri  tua  gloria  nil  potis  ultra; 
Et  nostrse  nil  vocis  eget ;  nos  aspice  praesens, 
Pectoribusque  tuos  castis  infunde  calores 
Adveniens  pater  !  atque  animis  tete  insere  nostris. 

Ill 

The  only  example  in  modern  times  which  would  indicate 
that  these  legends,  as  connected  with  the  name  of  Virgil,  had 
a  root  in  the  folk-lore  of  Naples,  is  an  anecdote  related  by 
Von  der  Hagen  in  Briefe  in  die  Hehnaih.  The  German  investi- 
gator, who  was  undoubtedly  seeking  for  something  that  would 
support  his  own  theories,  found  an  old  fisherman  who  pointed 
out  to  him  the  place  where  Virgil  often  sat  book  in  hand. 
Virgil  was  a  handsome  man,  with  a  ruddy  face.     By  his  arts 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  197 

he  had  learned  how  to  preserve  his  youth.  Upon  all  the  walls 
near  by  circles  and  lines  were  drawn  by  means  of  which  Virgil 
taught  Marcellus  the  secrets  of  the  world  of  spirits.  Often  in 
the  most  violent  tempests,  when  none  of  the  fishermen  dared 
expose  themselves  to  the  fury  of  the  storm,  Virgil  would  be 
seen  putting  to  sea  in  an  open  boat.  No  sailor  feared  disaster 
if  Virgil  were  on  board  of  the  vessel.  Sometimes  he  ascended 
to  the  most  exposed  part  of  the  ship  and  sitting  there  wrote  in 
his  books  undisturbed  by  the  wind  and  the  waves.  He  was  a 
prophet,  for  there  never  came  a  storm  which  he  did  not  pre- 
dict. He  visited  the  gardeners  and  farmers,  also,  and  gave 
them  much  useful  advice,  explaining  to  them  under  what 
signs  it  was  best  to  plant  their  seeds.  With  a  potent  W'ord  he 
was  wont  to  allay  the  tempest  when  it  j^leased  him ;  and  when 
Vesuvius  threatened  an  eruption  he  Avould  stand  up  for  whole 
nights  with  his  eye  fixed  on  the  mountain,  probably  holding 
converse  with  familiar  spirits.  He  entertained  for  a  long 
time  the  idea  of  making  a  road  from  Naples  to  Posilippo. 
Finally  his  spirits  completed  the  work  in  one  night,  excavating 
the  tunnel  through  the  mountains  which  is  still  to  be  seen. 
At  another  time  he  benefited  the  Neapolitans  in  a  Avonderful 
way.  The  gnats  being  as  numerous  as  they  were  in  Egypt  at 
the  time  of  Moses,  A^irgil  made  a  fly  of  gold  which,  at  his 
command,  rose  in  the  air  and  scattered  these  noxious  pests. 
Again,  all  the  springs  and  fountains  of  the  kingdom  became 
infested  with  leeches.  Virgil  dispelled  this  plague  by  making 
a  golden  leech,  which  he  placed  in  one  of  the  fountains. 

Without  taking  up  the  question  how  far  the  German  author 
may  have  been  the  victim  of  misplaced  confidence,  it  is  sufii- 
cient  to  observe  that  after  so  long  a  career  in  literature 
it  would    be   strange    if   these    legends'  had    not   left  some 


198  MASTER    VIRGIL 

reminiscence  in  the  minds  even  of  some  unlettered  persons. 
If  that  reminiscence  had  been  general,  why  should  it  have 
vanished  with  Yon  der  Hagen?  Yet  there  is  not  a  trace 
of  them  at  the  present  day  in  Kaples,  as  Professor  Comparetti 
himself  says.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  grotto  of  Pozzuoli, 
a  peasant  described  the  house  which  Yirgil  built  upon  the 
mountain,  and  another,  pointing  to  an  aperture  in  the  sides 
of  the  grotto,  said  it  was  the  window  where  Yirgil  talked 
with  his  sweetheart.  But  the  most  important  relic  of  the 
magical  reputation  of  the  poet  is  the  little  song  which  was 
heard  from  the  lips  of  a  countryman  in  a  fishing  village  near 
Lecce,  in  Avhich  a  lover  is  represented  as  saying:  "If  I  were 
a  magician  like  Yirgil,  I  would  bring  the  sea  to  your  door. 
I  would  then  become  a  little  fish  that  I  might  be  caught  in 
your  net." 


lY 


Such  being  the  position  of  Italy  with  reference  to  the 
legendary  reputation  of  Yirgil,  nothing  is  left  excej^t  to  say 
that  the  legends  owed  their  genesis  and  development  to  the 
romancers  of  France  and  Germany — a  fact  Avhich  the  reader 
has  already  discovered,  perhaps,  for  himself.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  the  three  most  notable  writers  Avho  discussed 
the  legends  from  the  vantage  of  learning  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries  were  Englishmen — namely,  John  of  Salis- 
bury, Neckam  and  Gervase — the  subsequent  treatment  of  the 
tales  by  the  poets  of  England  was  remarkable.  Chaucer  put 
an  allusion  to  the  Salvatio  Romce  into  the  mouths  of  the  pojiu- 
lace  in  the  tale  of  Cambuscan,  as  if  to  show  that  he  thought  it 
a    mere  gossiping    invention.       His  familiarity  with  Italian 


ly   LATER    LITERATUnE  199 

literati! ro  may  have  led  him  to  discredit  it.  Oa  the  other 
hand,  Grower,  essentially  an  imitator  of  the  French  versifiers, 
taking  the  story  as  told  iu  the  romance  of  the  Seven  Wise 
Masters,  interspersed  it  with  some  philosophy  of  his  own,  but 
related  it  with  such  care  as  to  enforce  the  belief  that  he 
credited  it.  The  mirror,  according  to  his  narrative,  was  of  such 
power  that  it  disclosed  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  and  all  his 
ordnance  of  war  at  a  distance  of  thirty  miles.  Its  destruction 
was  plotted  by  the  prince  of  Carthage  and  the  king  of  Apulia. 
How  innocent  of  doubt  Gower  was  in  this  case  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  he  connected  the  story  with  historic  incidents  of  Han- 
nibal's campaigns,  for  he  not  only  made  him  the  leader  of  the 
Carthaginians,  but  added : 

And  thus  hath  Rome  lost  his  pride 

And  was  defouled  over  all. 

For  this  I  pride  of  Hannibal, 

That  he  of  Eomains  in  a  day. 

When  he  hem  found  out  of  array, 

So  great  a  multitude  slough. 

That  of  gold  rings  which  he  drough, 

Of  gentil  hondes  that  ben  ded, 

Bushelles  f  ulle  there  I  rede 

He  filled  and  made  a  brigge  also 

That  he  might  over  Tyber  go 

Upon  the  corpses  that  dede  were 

Of  the  Romans  which  he  slough  there. 
Lydgate  discarded  the  mirror  which  the  French  romancers 
made  so  much  of,  and  returned  to  the  antique  story  substan- 
tially  as   it   had   been   related   by  Neckam.     In   his   Bochas 
speaking  of  the  Roman  Pantheon,  he  wrote: 

Whyche  was  a  temple  of  old  foundacion, 
Ful  of  ydols,  up  set  on  hye  stages ; 
There  through  the  worlde  of  every  nacion 


200  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

Were  of  iheyre  goddes  set  ujj  great  jmages, 
To  every  kingdom  direct  were  theyr  visages 
As  poetes  and  Fulgens  by  hys  live 
In  bokes  olde  jilainly  dotb  dyscrive. 

Every  ymage  had  in  his  hande  a  bell, 
As  appertaineth  to  every  nacion 
"Which  by  craft  some  token  should  tell 
When  any  kingdom  fill  in  rebellion. 
Both  of  these  poets  avoided  the  notions  of  magic  pertaining 
to  their  time.     Gower  attributed  Virgil's  achievement  solely  to 
his  learning,  while  Lydgate  suggests  that  the  movements  of 
the  images  were  due  to  the  craft,  that  is,  the  mechanical  skill 
of  the  inventor.     The  notion  of  diabolism  so  popular  with  the 
Germans  was  altogether  ignored. 

In  a  work  like  the  Confessio  A7nanti3  it  might  be  supposed 
that  Gower  would  have  found  occasion  to  relate  the  adventure 
of  the  basket  at  length,  but  it  was,  perhaps,  too  gross  to  please 
him.     At  all  events  he  merely  alluded  to  it  in  the  description 
given  by  the  Confessor  of  his  vision  of  lovers : 
And  eke  Virgile  of  acquientance 
I  sigh,  where  he  the  maiden  praid, 
Which  was  the  donghter  as  men  sayd 
Of  til'  emperour  whilom  of  Eome. 
It  remained  for  Stephen  Hawes  in  his  Pastime  of  Pleasure  to 
enlarge  upon  the  tale.     Nevertheless  he  showed  that  he  looked 
upon  it  as  a  fiction  by  putting  it  in  the  mouth  of  one  False 
Reporte  who  had  changed  his  name  to  the  less  troublesome  one 
of  Godfrey  Gobelyve.     The  amiable  Godfrey  held  forth  at 
great  length  upon  the  cunning  of  the  sex,  and  after  telling 
the  story  of  Aristotle,  who  was  persuaded  by  a  woman  to  act 
the  part  of  a  horse  while  she  bridled  and  rode  him,  fell  upon 
Virgil  in  a  scandalous  wise.     There  is  something  diverting  in 


IN   LATER    LITERATURE  201 

the  specific  character  of  the  information  vouchsafed  by  the 
poet.  It  was  just  eleven  of  the  clock  when  Virgil  put  him- 
self in  the  basket.  The  lady  and  her  maids  drew  him  up  five 
fathoms  from  the  ground.  He  hung  there  until  high  noon 
of  the  next  day.  When  he  revenged  himself  by  extinguishing 
the  fires,  it  was  not  the  city  merely  that  suffered,  but  for 

A  great  circute  aboute. 

There  was  no  fyre  that  was  un-put-out. 

V 

Not  only  were  the  legends  discredited,  but  there  appears  to 
have   been  a   time   when — the   old  romances  and  works  like 
those  of  Neckam  having  ceased  to  be  read — they  were  com- 
pletely  forgotten.      Just   after   the   Reformation,    when  the 
universities  were  full  of  the  spirit  of  independence,  the  satirical 
poems  of  'the  twelfth  century — some  of  which  are  supposed 
to  be  the  composition  of  Walter  Mapes — were  recovered  from 
the  dust  of  the  libraries  in  which  they  had  lain  so  long.     It 
was  natural  that  a  poem,  for  example,  like  the  Apocalypsis 
Golice  Episeopi,  so  suitable  to  the  temper  of  the  times,  should 
be  translated.     It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  a  translation  other- 
wise accurate  any  person  with  a  knowledge  of  Latin  or  of  the 
tradition ,  should  have  understood  the  stanza : 
Lucanum  video  ducem  bellantium  ; 
Formantem  cereas  muscas  Virgilium  ; 
Pascentem  fabulis  turbas  Ovidiiim, 
Xudantem  satyros  dicaces  Persium  ; 
in  this  way : 

There  saw  I  Lucane  eke,  of  warlike  writers  chiefe 

And  Virgil  then  did  shape  the  small  bees  of  the  aire, 
And  Ovid  with  his  tales  to  many  was  reliefe, 
Perseus  his  taunts  and  satyres  did  not  spare. 


202  MASTER   VIRGIL 

It  is  possible  that  the  translator  in  this  ease  took  the  Latin 
to  be  merely  an  allusion  to  the  verses  of  Virgil  respecting 
bees.  At  a  somewhat  later  time  the  true  rendering  was  given 
by  another  translator  in  the  line : 

Virgil  meanwhile  is  framing  flies  of  brasse. 
We  can  only  suppose  that  the  earlier  translator,  having  no 
knowledge  of  the  legends,  concluded  that  cereos  was  an  error 
of  the  copyist  and  so  substituted  for  it  the  word  most  similar 
to  it   in   appearance.       So  in  the   English   metrical  version 
of  The  Seven    Wise   Men,   the   name   of  Virgil   was   omitted 
altogether,  and  the  name  of  Merlin  put  in  its  place,  although 
in  other  particulars  the  version  was  not  unlike  those  from 
which  it  was  made.     The  beginning  of   the  episode  of  the 
magic  mirror  will  substantiate  the  truth  of  this  remark  : 
The  emperes  hire  tale  bygane, 
And  sayde,  "Sire  hit  was  a  mane, 
Merlyn  he  hatte,  and  was  a  clerke, 
And  bygan  a  wonder  werke ; 
He  made  in  Rome  thourow  clergyse 
A  piler  that  stode  fol  heyghe, 
Heyer  wel  than  ony  tour, 
And  ther-oppon  a  myrrour, 
That  schon  over  al  the  town  by  nyght 
As  hyt  were  day  light, 
That  the  wayetys  myght  see ; 
Yf  any  man  came  to  cite 
Any  harm    for  to  doon, 
The  cite  was  warnyd  soone." 
Marlowe,   in  his  tragedy  of  Doctor  Faustus,  puts  into  that 
magician's  mouth  the  words : 

There  saw  we  learned  Maro's  golden  tombe, 
The  way  he  cut  an  English  mile  in  length 
Thorough  a  rock  of  stone  in  one  night's  space. 


7-V  LATER   LITERATURE  203 

But  lie  ueeded  to  know  little  of  the  legends  to  have  discovered 
this,  inasmuch  as  it  was  one  of  the  particulars  mentioned  in 
the  tales  of  Faust  from  which  he  drew  the  materials  of  his 
story.  He  might  have  known  much  more  of  tlie  legends 
of  Virgil  if  he  had  chosen  to  do  so,  for  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  they  had  been  systematized  by  the  unknown 
author  of  Les  Faidz  merveilleux  de  Virgille,  and  this  little  book 
was  early  translated  into  Icelandic,  German,  Dutch  and 
English.  With  these  fanciful  and  absurd  fictions  the  product- 
ive period  of  the  Yirgiliau  Legends  may  be  'said  to  have 
ended.  The  process  of  elaboration  which  had  been  carried  on 
at  intervals  for  several  centuries  is  characterized  by  one  notable 
fact.  While  the  scene  of  the  legends  was  of  necessity  in 
Italy,  at  Naples  first,  and  then  at  Rome  and  even  at  Venice, 
the  magician  was  invested  by  each  race  with  its  own  eccentrici- 
ties. The  Italians  alone  could  be  said  to  have  j^reserved  an 
adequate  notion  of  him  as  a  poet.  The  northern  races  made 
him  the  companion  and  the  victim  of  devils.  The  French 
elaborated  the  notion  of  him  as  a  dissolute  lover,  while  the 
Spanish,  least  amenable  to  the  influence  of  other  nations, 
converted  him  into  a  silly,  over-amorous  hidalgo. 


204  MASTER    VIE  OIL 

VI 

These  false  ideals  were  not  easily  corrected  even  by  the 
rapid  progress  of  learning  in  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  The  passage  already  quoted  from  Vida 
gives  an  expression  of  the  almost  idolatrous  homage  paid  to 
Virgil  by  the  scholars  of  the  renaissance.  The  studied  ease 
and  perfection  of  his  style,  his  lofty  moral  and  political 
purpose,  his  supposed  relation  to  Christianity,  his  superhu- 
man achievements  in  arts  foreign  to  poetry,  were  all  adapted 
to  the  minds  of  men  with  whom  the  power  of  criticism  was,  so 
to  speak,  a  rediscovered  faculty.  The  fanciful  tales  of  necro- 
mancy and  the  elaborate  allegories  that  had  been  invented  to 
explain  the  ^Eneid  did  not  seem  incredible  to  the  evangelists 
of  a  newly- vitalized  scholarship.  It  did  not  occur  to  them  as 
absurd  that  Fulgentius  should  have  found  the  whole  philosophy 
of  human  life  wrapped  up  in  the  line : 

Arma,  virumque  cano,  Trojse  qui  primus  ab  oris, 
that  he  should  have  classified  life  in  three  gradations ;  nor  that 
Bernard  of  Chartres  should  have  seen  in  Virgil  a  philosopher 
who  described  the  nature  of  human  life;  nor  that  John 
of  Salisbury  should  have  found  in  the  story  of  the  J^neid  the 
arcana  of  all  wisdom.  Scaliger  and  others  as  great  and 
learned  as  lie,  blinded  by  the  reverential  spirit,  the  tendency 
of  ages  of  tradition,  rated  the  genius  of  Virgil  above  that 
of  Homer.  But  in  the  chaos  of  literature  which  the  art 
of  printing  caused,  such  partial  worship  of  a  single  great 
name  could  not  continue.  The  readers  of  Virgil  gradually 
separated,  according  to  their  prejudices,  into  a  few  great 
classes,  the  smallest  number  accepting  Scaliger's  narrow  defini- 
tion of  a  poet.     Some,  out  of  an  excessive  and  superstitious 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  205 

regard  for  antiquity,  endeavored  to  strengthen  the  fabric 
of  mediseval  legend,  and  to  revive  the  notions  of  the  fifth 
century  by  means  of  centos  in  the  manner  of  Pi'oba  and 
Sedulius.  Some  attributed  unimaginable  virtues  to  a  single 
verse;  for  example,  the  Jesuit  Caspar  Knittelius,  taking 
the  seven  words  of  the  first  line  in  the  anonymous  proem  to 
the  ^neid : 

Ille  ego  qui  quondam  gracili  modulatus  avena, 

found  in  them  an  equal  number  of  arguments  in  defence  of  the 
virtue  of  humanity.  Others  renewed  the  post-classical  super- 
stition respecting  A^'irgilian  divination  as  in  the  well-known 
anecdote  of  Charles  I.  and  the  poet  Cowley.  Opposed  to 
these  worshippers  of  the  antique  were  men  of  more  modern 
spirit  who  denounced  or  ridiculed  the  fables  of  mediaival 
times.  As  on  the  one  hand,  Trithemius,  Paracelsus,  Vigenere, 
Le  Loyer,  iii  works  on  the  occult  sciences,  deemed  it  necessary 
to  perpetuate  the  Virgilian  legends,  so  on  the  other  hand, 
men  like  Gabriel  Naude  and  Bayle  labored  with  well-directed 
energy  to  destroy  beliefs  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  cruel 
laws  relating  to  magic  and  witchcraft.  Naude's  Ajwlogle  j)our 
Personnages  fausseinent  soupconnes  de  Magle  is  a  monument  of  eru- 
dition and  sound  judgment.  It  might  seem  to  us  that  he 
was  contending  against  an  imaginary  enemy,  if  we  were  not 
informed  that  such  vexatious  puerilities  as  an  alphabet  for 
secret  writing,  tables  of  nativities,  and  magic  images  were 
attributed  to  Virgil  by  men  who,  aside  from  this  demonomania 
which  possessed  them,  showed  themselves  well  nurtured  in 
good  learning.  At  a  comparatively  late  date  mirrors  were 
exhibited  in  Paris  and  Florence,  which  were  confidently 
asserted  to  be  the  very  instruments  endued  with  magical 
properties  by  Virgil.     A  conclusive  argument  with  those  who 


200  MAS  TEE    VIE  GIL 

were  yet  in  the  darkness  of  meditevalism  was  that  a  scholar,  a 
chancellor  and  a  churchman  like  Gervase  could  not  have  been 
deceived  in  these  matters.  Xaude  boldly  took  issue  with  them 
at  this  point.  He  wrote  that  he  could  hardly  believe  a  man 
to  be  in  his  senses  who  gave  the  sanction  of  his  name  to  such 
tales  as  Gervase  related.  The  general  popularity  of  Bayle's 
Dictionary  helped  to  complete  the  work  of  demolition  which 
Naude  began.  Sharp  controversy  followed,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  upon  the  merits  of  Yirgil  as  a  poet.  There  were 
those  who,  like  Mambrun,  denied  to  him  the  possession 
of  genius.  The  famous  author  of  the  epic  Constantinus  was  so 
bitterly  partisan  in  his  opposition  to  Yirgil  that  he  enumerated 
those,  things  whicli  have  always  been  thought  meritorious  in 
Yirgil  as  so  many  arguments  against  him.  He  condemned 
the  JEneid  as  a  poem  with  an  excellent  subject  ill-treated,  and 
criticised  it  in  detail  with  a  violence  that  verged  on  brutality. 
The  incidents  of  the  combat  between  Turnus  and  ^Eneas 
were  objected  to  as  lacking  heroic  purpo.se  and  validity  of  good. 
rea.son.  Tlie  death  of  the  former,  Mambrun  declared,  was 
not  due  to  the  valor  of  his  ojiponent,  but  to  a  single  word 
of  Jove,  who  was  introduced,  contraiy  to  the  precejDt  of 
Aristotle,  to  do  what  should  have  been  expected  of  a  human 
hero.  The  story  of  Sinon  should  never  have  had  a  place  in 
epic  poetry,  for  deceit  is  immoral,  and  it  is  the  office  of  heroic 
verse  to  teach  morality.  The  conduct  of  Ulysses  and  Diomedes 
was  devoid  of  rectitude  and  unworthy  of  heroes,  and  should 
have  received  different  treatment.  How  Avould  it  look  for  a 
Christian  to  celebrate  in  grandiloquent  verse  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Sultan  ?  Even  the  propriety  of  such  a  poem 
from  "the  pen  of  a  Mohammedan  might  be  doubted.  Turning 
to  matters  of  grammar,  ]\[ambrun  pointed  out  places  in  Virgil 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  207 

where  the  diction  was  as  loose  iind  undignified  as  prose,  places 
where  the  ancient  author  had  been  guilty  of  rhyme,  and 
places  where  there  was  a  needless  grouping  or  iteration  of  harsh 
syllables.  He  would  as  lieve  hear  a  dog  bark  as  listen  to  such 
a  line  as  this: 

Puniceis  invecta  rotis  aurora  rubebit. 

Fortunately,  the  Constantinus  remains.  In  that  production, 
Mambrun  demonstrated  anew  the  familiar  truth  that,  though 
a  cat  may  look  at  a  king,  it  cannot  wield  the  sceptre.  In  a 
later  generation,  John  Pinkerton,  an  Englishman,  under  the 
pseudonym  of  Heron,  in  Letters  on  Literature  attacked  the 
memory  of  Virgil  with  some  skill,  but  with  needless  acrimony. 
The  gentle  Cowper,  whose  piety  did  not  affect  his  love  of  the 
great  pagan  poets,  responded  with  an  angry  epigram,  in  which 
•     he  promised  the  offender, 

A  perpetuity  of  fame. 

That  rots  and  stinks,  and  is  abhorr'd. 

Among  men  of  the  present  centuiy,  the  most  distinguished 
depredator  of  Virgil  was  Coleridge,  who  maintained  that  little 
would  be  left  to  the  author  of  the  ^neid  if  his  diction  and 
metre  were  taken  away.  This  is  a  criticism  that  would  apply 
as  well  to  Tlie  Ancient  Mariner  as  to  any  Maronic  work,  and  is 
probably  only  one  example  of  that  subtle  perversity  Avhich 
Coleridge  sometimes  displayed. 


VII 


In  another  age  Bishop  Warburton^that  eminent  mas- 
ter of  paradoxes — whose  tendency  in  criticism  was  to  what 
might  now  be  described  as  the  sensational,  attempted  to  prove 
that  the   description  of  ^neas's  descent  into  Hades  was  an 


208  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

allegorical  exposition  of  the  ancient  mysteries.  This  rhapsody 
had  the  merit  of  eliciting  from  an  anonymous  author  the  sen- 
sible pamphlet,  Critical  observations  on  the  Sixth  Book  of  the 
JEneid,  one  of  the  earliest  utterances  of  the  calm  and  rational 
spirit  of  modern  scholarship  which  seeks  to  interpret  Virgil's 
writings  by  the  cold  clear  light  of  historical  and  philological 
learning ;  a  scholarship  which  has  guided  the  pens  of  the  great 
commentators,  inspired  and  corrected  the  poetical  translators, 
and  illumined  the  obscure  pages  of  mediaeval  study. 

Warburton  was  not  the  first  Englishman  with  a  taste  for 
eccentric  theories  as  to  Virgil's  meaning.  John  Beaumont, 
gentleman,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  had  printed  in 
London  a  remarkable  treatise  of  his  own  upon  the  gentile  or- 
acles. The  treatise  was  not  more  remarkable  than  the  man. 
He  was  a  spiritualist  of  the  extreme  sort  long  before  the  doc- 
trines of  modern  spiritualism  had  been  thought  of,  and  his 
views  on  all  the  subjects  he  discussed  were  colored  by  a  ten- 
dency to  vision  and  allegory.  It  was  not  unnatural  then  that, 
rejecting  all  commonly  accepted  notions  about  tlie  fourth 
eclogue  of  Virgil,  he  should  have  conceived  it  to  be  a  pagan 
expression  of  the  Christian  dogma  of  regeneration.  He  sup- 
posed all  the  works  of  the  poet  to  have  been  written  with  an 
eye  to  religion  and  church  dispensations.  After  having  spent 
no  small  time  in  considering  the  writings  of  the  gentiles,  he 
could  not  make  tolerable  sense  of  many  passages  in  them  except 
by  means  of  Christian  doctrines  relating  to  the  inner  life.  This 
was  especially  true  in  all  the  works  of  Virgil,  but  the  same  was 
true  in  a  less  degree  of  other  authors.  While  there  were  great 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  applying  the  fourth  eclogue  to  Christ, 
to  the  son  of  Pollio,  or  to  any  historical  personage,  there  Avas 
none  in  the  wav  of  referring  it  to  the  inward  birth  :   "And 


IN  LATER   LITEBATURE  209 

here  I  must  aver,"  he  remarks,  "that  those  wlio  have  exj)eri- 
mentally  observed  the  work  of  regeneration  and  inward  birth 
to  have  passed  in  them,  if  they  are  also  learned,  will  be  able 
to  clearly  verify  within  themselves  all  that  the  poet  has  set 
forth  relating  to  the  birth  he  celebrates."  Then  he  goes  on  to 
assert  that  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  looked  to  this  same  doctrine, 
thus  putting  vaguely  in  a  sentence  the  germ  of  a  theory  not 
altogether  unlike  that  which  Warburton  developed  afterward. 
For  Warburton  was  also  seeking  to  establish  a  peculiar  hypoth- 
esis respecting  a  phase  of  Christian  opinion  by  appealing  to 
the  authors  of  ancient  paganism.  His  exposition  of  the 
-/Eneid  lorms  part  of  the  second  book  of  The  Divine  Legation 
of  Moses.  Presuming  that  the  descent  of  iEneas  into  Hades  is 
only  a  figurative  description  of  an  initiation  and  particularly 
an  exact  picture  of  the  spectacles  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries, 
he  begins  his  argument  by  saying  that  Virgil  found  the  domain 
of  morals  taken  up  by  Homer,  who  also  compassed  the  realm 
of  physical  inquiry,  inasmuch  as  those  who  had  allegorized  his 
poems  had  "opened  a  back  door  to  let  in  the  philosopher  with 
the  poet."  Virgil,  therefore,  taking  the  other  great  field 
of  ancient  thought  and  activity,  sought  to  make  his  epic  a  sys- 
tem  of  politics.  The  ^ncid,  Avritten  on  this  plan,  is  as  com- 
plete an  institute  in  verse  by  example  as  the  Republics  of  Plato 
and  Cicero  are  by  precept  in  prose.  "Everything  in  the 
book,"  says  Warburton,  "points  to  great  and  jDublic  ends. 
The  turning  of  the  ships  into  sea  deities,  in  the  ninth  book, 
has  the  appearance  of  something  infinitely  extravagant.  The 
philosophic  commentators  of  Homer's  poem  had  brought  the 
fantastic  refinement  of  allegory  into  great  vogue.  "We  mav 
estimate  the  capacity  of  Virgil's  judgment  in  not  catching  at 
so  alluring  a  bait  that  some  of  the   greatest  of  the  modern 


210  MASTER   VIRGIL 

epic  poets,  -wIk)  approaclied  nearest  to  Virgil  iu  genius,  have 
been  betrayed  by  it.  Yet,  liere  and  there  our  poet,  to  convey 
a  political  precept,  has  employed  an  ingenious  allegory.  And 
the  adventure  iu  question  is,  I  think,  of  this  number.  By 
.  the  transformation  of  the  ships  into  sea  deities,  he  would 
insinuate,  I  suppose,  the  great  advantage  of  cultivating  a 
naval  power ;  such  as  extended  commerce  and  the  dominion 
of  the  ocean.  He  explained  the  allegory  more  clearly  in  the 
following  book,  where  he  makes  these  transformed  sea-nymphs 
accompany  JEncas  and  his  fleet  of  auxiliaries  through  the 
Tyrrhene  sea.  This  ministerial  hint  was  the  more  important 
and  seasonable,  as  all  of  Octavian's  traverses,  in  his  way 
to  empire,  w'ere  from  his  want  of  a  sufficient  naval  power. 
Nor  was  it  at  this  time  less  flattering  to  Augustus,  to  whom  the 
Alexandrians  erected  a' magnificent  temple,  porticoes  and  sacred 
groves,  where  he  v.-as  worshipped  under  the  title  of  Caesar,  the 
protector  and  patron  of  sailors.  So  he  became  a  sea  god  at 
the  head  of  these  goddesses."  This  fanciful  interpretation 
of  Virgil's  high-flown  imagery  does  not  comport  very  well 
with  his  known  dislike  of  commerce  and  the  sea,  but  it  illus- 
trates the  method  by  which  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  went 
about  the  task  of  finding  in  the  poet  a  meaning  which  nobody 
else  had  discovered.  The  key  to  the  ^neid  which  he  devised 
cleared  up  in  his  opinion  not  only  many  passages  which  had 
been  troublesome  to  the  critics,  but  added  infinite  beauty  to  a 
great  number  of  incidents  throughout  the  poem.  "Virgil  was 
so  learned,"  continued  Warburton,  "in  all  that  concerned  the 
Roman  ritual,  that  it  was  a  common  saying  (as  we  collect  from 
Macrobius)  Virgilius  noster  pontifex  viaximus  videtur.  It  being 
now  understood  that  the  ^Eneid  is  in  the  style  of  ancient 
legislation,  it  would  be  hard  to  think  that  so  great  a  master  in 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  211 

his  art  should  overlook  a  doctrine  which,  we  have  shown,  was 
the  foundation  and  support   of   ancient   politics — namely,  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments.     Accordingly,  he 
has  given    us  a  complete  system  of   it  in  imitation  of   his 
models,  which  were  Plato's  Vision  of  Erus  and  Tully's  Dream 
of   Scipio.      And  as  the  lawgiver  took  care  to  support   this 
doctrine  by  a  very  extraordinary  institution  and  to  commem- 
orate it  by  a  rite,  which  has  all  the  allurement  of  a  spectacle; 
and  afforded  matter  for  the  utmost  embellishments  of  poetry, 
we  can  not  but  confess  a  description  of  such  a  scene  would 
add  largely  to  the  grace  and  elegance  of  his  work,  and  must 
conclude  he  would  be  invited  to  attempt  it.     Accordingly,  we 
say,    he   has   done   this    likewise   in    the   allegorical   descent 
of  ^neas  into  hell ;  which  is  no  other  than  an  enigmatical 
representation  of  his  initiation  into  the  mysteries.    Virgil  was  to 
represent  an  heroic  lawgiver  in  the   person   of  iEneas ;  now, 
initiation  into  the  mysteries  was  what  sanctified  his  character 
and  ennobled  his  function.     Hence  we  find  all  the  ancient 
heroes  and  lawgivers  were,  in  fact,  initiated.     And  it  was  no 
wonder  the  legislator  should  endeavor  by  his  example  to  give 
credit  to  an  institution  of  his  own  creating.     Another  reason 
for  the  hero's   initiation   was  the   important   instruction  the 
founders  of  empire  received  in   matters  that  concerned  their 
office.     A   third  reason  for    his   initiation    was   their  custom 
of   seeking  support  and  inspiration  from  the  god  who  pre- 
sided  in  the  mysteries.      A  fourth  reason  for  his  initiation 
was   the   circumstance   in    which  the   poet   has   placed   him, 
unsettled  in  his  affairs  and  anxious  about  his  future  fortune. 
Now,  amongst  the  uses  of  initiation,  the  advice  and  direction 
of  the  oracle  was  not  the  least ;  and  an  oracular  bureau  was  so 
necessary  an  appendix  to  some  of  the  mysteries,  as  particularly 


212  MASTER   VIRGIL 

the  Samothracian,  tliat  Plutarch,  speaking  of  Lysander's  ini- 
tiation, there  expressed  it  by  a  word  that  signifies  consulting  an 
oracle.  On  this  account,  Jason,  Orpheus,  Hercules,  Castor 
and  (as  Macrobius  says)  Tarquinius  Priscus,  were  every  one 
of  them  initiated  into  the  mysteries.  A  fifth  reason  was  the 
conforming  of  the  old  popular  tradition,  which  said  that  sev- 
eral other  heroes  of  the  Trojan  times,  such  as  Agamemnon  and 
Ulysses,  had  been  initiated.  A  sixth  and  principal  reason  was 
that  Augustus,  who  was  shadowed  in  the  person  of  ^neas, 
had  been  initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  ^Mysteries.  While  the 
mysteries  were  confined  to  Egypt,  their  native  country,  and 
while  the  Grecian  lawgivers  went  thither  to  be  initiated,  as  a 
kind  of  a  designation  to  their  office,  the  ceremony  would  be 
naturally  described  in  terms  highly  allegorical.  This  was  in 
part  owing  to  the  genius  of  Egyptian  manners ;  and  in 
part  the  humor  of  travellers,  but  most  of  all  to  the  policy 
of  the  lawgivers,  Avho,  returning  home  to  civilize  a  barbarous 
people,  by  laws  and  arts,  found  it  useful  and  necessary  (in 
order  to  support  their  own  characters  and  to  establish  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  a  future  state)  to  represent  that  initia- 
tion in  which  was  seen  the  condition  of  departed  mortals  in 
machinery,  as  an  actual  descent  into  hell.  This  way  of  speaking 
was  used  by  Orpheus,  Bacchus  and  others  and  continued  even 
after  the  mysteries  were  introduced  into  Greece,  as  appears  by 
the  fables  of  Hercules,  Castor,  Pollux  and  Theseus's  descent 
into  Hell.  But  the  allegory  was  generally  so  circumstanced 
as  to  discover  the  truth  concealed  under  it.  Both  Euripides 
in  the  Hercules  furens  and  Aristophanes  in  his  Frogs  seem  to 
confirm  our  interpretation  of  these  descents  into  hell.  Thus 
we  see  Virgil  was  obliged  to  have  his  hero  initiated ;  and  he 
actually  had  the  authority  of  antiquit}  to  call  this  initiation  a 


ly  LATER    LITERATURE  213 

descent  into  hell.  Hence  some  of  the  pretended  Orphic  odes, 
sung  at  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries,  bore  this  title.  And 
surely  he  made  use  of  his  advantages  with  great  judgment; 
for  such  a  fiction  animates  the  relation,  which,  delivered  out 
of  allegory,  had  been  too  cold  and  insipid  for  epic  poetry. 
We  see  from  iEneas's  urging  the  examples  of  those  heroes  and 
lawgivers  who  had  been  initiated  before  him  that  his  request 
was  only  for  an  initiation.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Theseus 
is  the  only  one  ot  these  ancient  heroes  not  recorded  in  history 
to  have  been  initiated,  though  we  have  shown  that  his  descent 
into  hell  was,  like  that  of  the  rest,  only  a  view  of  the  mysteries* 
The  reason  is,  his  entrance  was  a  violent  intrusion.  Had  an 
old  poem,  under  the  name  of  Orpheus,  entitled  a  descent 
into  hell,  been  now  extant,  it  would  probably  have  shown  us 
that  no  more  was  meant  than  Orpheus's  initiation ;  and  that 
the  idea  of  the  sixth  book  was  taken  from  thence.  But,  fur- 
ther, it  was  customary  for  the  poets  of  the  Augustan  age  to 
exercise  themselves  on  the  subject  of  the  mysteries,  as  appears 
from  Cicero,  who  desires  Atticus,  then  at  Athens,  and  initiated, 
to  send  to  Chilius,  a  poet  of  eminence,  an  account  of  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries  ;  in  order,  it  would  seem,  to  insert  it  into 
some  poem  he  was  then  writing.  Thus  it  appears  that  both 
the  ancient  and  contemporary  poets  afforded  Virgil  a  pattern 
for  this  famous  episode.  Even  Servius  saw  thus  far  into 
Virgil's  design  as  to  say  that  many  things  were  here  delivered 
according  to  the  profound  learning  of  the  Egyptian  theology. 
And  we  have  shown  that  the  doctrines  taught  in  the  mysteries 
were  invented  by  that  people.  But  though  I  say  this  was  our 
poet's  general  design,  I  would  not  be  supjiosed  to  mean  that  he 
followed  no  other  guides  in  the  particular  circumstances  of  it. 
Several   of  them    are   borrowed   from   Homer;    and   several 


214  31  ASTER    VIE  GIL 

of  them  from  the  philosophic  notions  of  Plato.  The  great 
agent  in  this  affair  is  the  sibyl ;  and  as  a  virgin  she  sustains 
two  principal  and  distinct  parts — that  of  the  inspired  priestess 
to  pronounce  the  oracle,  and  that  of  the  hierophant  to  conduct 
the  initiated  through  the  whole  celebration.  Hence  Virgil 
calls  the  sibyl  Magna  mcerdos  and  cloda  comes,  words 
of  equivalent  significance,  and  this  because  the  mysteries 
of  Ceres  were  always  celebrated  in  Rome  by  female  priests,  and 
as  the  female  mystagogue,  as  well  as  the  male,  Avas  devoted  to 
a  single  life,  so  was  the  Cumsean  sibyl,  whom  he  calls  casta 
Sibylla.  Another  reason  why  a  priestess  is  given  to  conduct 
him  is  because  Proserpine  presided  in  this  whole  affair.  And 
the  name  of  the  priestess  in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  shows 
that  she  jjroperly  belonged  to  Proserpine,  though  she  Avas  also 
called  the  priestess  of  Ceres.  Under  the  branch  is  figured  the 
wreath  of  myrtle  Avith  Avhich  the  initiated  Avere  crowned  at 
the  celebration  of  the  mysteries.  The  doves  of  Venus  direct 
-^neas  to  the  tree  for  the  myrtle,  as  is  knoAvu  to  cA'ery  one, 
was  consecrated  to  A'enus.  It  Avas  gold,  because  a  golden 
bough  was  literally  part  of  the  sacred  equipage  in  the  shows. 
The  sibyl,  on  their  approach  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  had 
ad\dsed  ^neas  to  summon  up  all  his  courage,  as  being  to 
undergo  the  scA^erest  trial.  These  trials  Avere  of  tAvo  sorts: 
the  encountering  real  labors  and  difficulties,  and  the  being 
exposed  to  imaginary  and  false  terrors.  This  latter  was 
objected  to  :dl  the  initiated  in  general ;  the  other  Avas  reserved 
for  the  chiefs  and  leaders.  On  which  account,  Virgil  described 
them  both  in  their  order ;  as  they  were  both  to  be  undergone 
by  his  hero.  On  coming  to  the  banks  of  Cocytus,  -^neas  is 
surprised  at  the  crowd  of  ghosts  which  hover  round  it  and 
appear  impatient  for  a  passage.     His  guide  tells  him  they  are 


7.V  LATER    LITERATURE  215 

those  who  have  not  had  the  rites  of  sepulture  performed  to  their 
manes,  and  so  are  doomed  to  wander  up  and  down  for  a  hun- 
dred years  before  they  are  permitted  to  cross  the  river.  We 
are  not  to  think  this  old  notion  took  its  rise  from  the  A^ulgar 
superstition.  It  was  one  of  the  wisest  contrivances  of  ancient 
politics ;  and  came  originally  from  Egypt,  the  fountain  head 
of  legislation.  Those  profound  masters  of  wisdom,  in  project- 
ing for  the  common  good,  found  nothing  would  more 
contribute  to  the  safety  of  their  fellow-citizens  than  the  public 
and  solemn  interment  of  the  dead,  as,  without  this  provision, 
private  murders  might  be  easily  and  securely  committed. 
They,  therefore,  introduced  the  custom  of  pompous  funeral 
rites.  The  Egyptian  sages  found  afterward  another  use  in  this 
opinion ;  and  by  artfully  turning  it  to  a  punishment  on  insol- 
vent debtors,  strengthened  public  credit  to  the  great  advantage 
of  comm'erce  and  consequently  of  civil  community.  Virgil 
divided  the  world  of  the  dead  >\to  three  parts;  purgatory, 
tartarus,  elysium  ;  and  so  did  th'  Jiysteries.  And  here  it  is  to 
our  purpose  to  observe  that  th  -.  drtues  and  vices  which  stock 
these  three  divisions  with  inhabhants  are  such  as  more  imme- 
diately affect  society  ;  a  plain  pre  of  that  the  poet  followed  the 
views  of  the  legislator,  the  insthutor  of  the  mysteries.  It  is 
remarkable  that  -^neas  is  led  through  the  regions  of  purgatory 
and  elysium ;  but  he  only  sees  ^he  sights  of  tartarus  at  a 
distance,  and  this  could  not  well  W  otherwise  in  the  shows 
of  the  mysteries  for  very  obviouf  reasons.  Advancing  to  the 
borders  of  elysium,  the  hero  unde-^goes  the  lustrations  which,  as 
Sopater  says,  immediately  prec  de  initiation  into  the  greater 
mysteries.  The  amusements  of  the  blessed  suggest  the  games 
which  were  celebrated  with  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  Virgil 
has  all  along  closely  followed   she  doctrine  of  the  mysteries 


216  MASTER    VIRGIL 

which  carefully  taught  that  virtue  only  could  entitle  men  to 
happiness,  and  that  rites,  ceremonies,  lustrations  and  sacrifices 
would  not  supply  the  want  of  it.  Nor  has  he  been  less  stu- 
dious in  copying  their  shows  and  representations,  in  which  the 
figures  of  those  heroes  and  heroines  who  were  most  celebrated 
in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Greeks  i:)assed  in  procession. 
But,  notwithstanding  this  entire  conformity  between  the  poet's 
scenes  and  those  represented  in  the  mysteries,  something  is  still 
wanting  to  complete  the  proofs,  and  that  is,  the  famous  secret 
of  the  mysteries,  the  unity  of  the  godhead.  Musseus,  therefore, 
who  had  been  hierophant  at  Athens,  takes  the  place  of  the  sibyl 
and  is  made  to  conduct  him  to  the  recess  where  his  father's 
shade  opens  to  him  the  doctrine  of  truth.  This  was  no  other 
than  the  doctrine  of  the  old  Egyptians,  as  avc  are  assured  by 
Plato,  who  says  they  taught  that  Jupiter  was  the  spirit  which 
pervaded  all  things.  Finally,  the  gates  of  dreams  represent 
tlie  reality  of  the  future  state  and  the  false  show  of  it  in  the 
mysteries." 


VIII 


While  these  sentences  have  been  placed  within  quotation 
marks,  it  must  be  stated  that  they  are  not  a  literal  transcript 
of  a  passage  from  Warburton's  voluminous  criticism  which 
covers,  including  copious  extracts  from  the  poet,  ninety  large 
pages  of  print.  The  only  way  to  give  an  adequate  view  of  a  rhap- 
sody, which,  late  as  it  was  in  point  of  time,  was  far  more  closely 
related  to  mediaeval  than  to  modern  methods  of  interpreting 
Virgil,  seemed  to  be  that  of  linking  together  those  passages 
which  carried  the  argument  along  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  without  a  lapse  that  would   be   unjust   to   Warburton's 


IN   LATER    LITERATURE  217 

acknowleged  power  and  acuteness.  This  lias  ])een  done  with 
as  little  modification  of  phraseology  as  seemed  possible.  It 
will  be  unnecessary  to  point  out  to  any  one  acquainted  with 
the  sixth  book  of  the  iEneid  how  narrow  the  grounds  are  for 
this  towering  fabric  of  presumption.  The  principal  point  is 
that  the  allegory  is  needless.  Nothing  is  added  to  thevvalue 
or  interest  of  Virgil's  work  by  supposing  that  he  drew  his 
inspiration  from  the  mysteries  rather  than  from  the  universal 
beliefs  of  the  ancient  world  respecting  the  state  of  the  dead. 
The  theory  of  Warburtou  has  too  little  of  what  Virgil  wrote 
and  too  much  totally  extraneous  suggestion  and  inference  to 
inspire  any  confidence.  The  conclusion  that  because  Cicero  on 
behalf  of  a  poetical  friend  asked  Atticus  to  give  some  account 
of  the  mysteries — presumably  of  the  public  pageant — therefore 
it  was  the  fashion  for  the  poets  of  that  day  to  write  about  the 
mysteries,  is  a  specimen  of  the  non-scquitur  by  which  the 
BishojD  of  Gloucester  attempted  to  sustain  his  case.  But  his 
style  was  so  vigorous,  his  method  so  plausible  and  interesting 
that  it  was  long  before  any  writer  was  found  with  courage  and 
ability  sufficient  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  poet — for  to.  have 
exposed  the  secret  of  the  mysteries  Avas  disgraceful  —  and  the 
genuineness  of  the  theme  which  he  aimed  to  illustrate.  The 
elaborate  h}^othesis  was  received  with  zealous  praise  by  some, 
with  studied  silence  by  others,  and  by  a  few  with  such  indig- 
nant outbursts  as  that  of  the  poet  Hayley : 

When  grave  Bossu  by  system's  studied  laws 

The  Grecian  bard's  ideal  picture  draws, 

And  wisely  tells  us  that  his  song  arose 

As  the  good  parson's  quiet  sermon  grows  ; 

Who,  while  his  easy  thoughts  no  pressure  find 

From  hosts  of  images  that  crowd  the  mind, 

First  calmly  settles  on  some  moral  text, 


218  MASTER    VIRGIL 

< 

Then  creeps  from  one  division  to  the  next !     . 
Nor,  if  poetic  minds  more  slowly  drudge 
Thro'  the  cold  comments  of  this  Gallic  judge, 
Will  their  indignant  spirit  less  deride 
That  subtle  pedant's  more  presumptive  pride, 
Whose  bloated  page  with  arrogance  replete. 
Imputes  to  Virgil  his  own  dark  conceit: 
And  from  the  tortured  poet  dares  to  draw 
That  latent  sense  which  Horace  never  saw  ; 
Which,  if  on  solid  proof  more  strongly  built, 
Must  brand  the  injured  bard  with  impious  guilt. 

The  hypothesis  was  finally  analyzed,  as  has  been  stated,  by 
an  anonymous  Avriter  in  1770.     The   book  has  been   out  of 
print  for  nearly  a  century.      It  was,  in   fact,  no  longer  to  be 
purchased  when  Hay  ley  published  the  above  lines  in   1782. 
The  author  attacked  with  effective  sarcasm  the  notion  which 
Warburton  had  elaborated,  that  the  ^neid  was  constructed  on 
the  lines  of  a  political  treatise.     He  then  appealed  to  the  text 
of    the    poet   as   showing   the    impossibility   of  Warburton's 
hypothesis  respecting  the  mysteries.     There  are  two  arguments 
which,  in  his  opinion,  render  it  incredible  that  "Virgil  could 
have  depicted  scenes  from  a  temple  of  Ceres  under  the  guise 
of  a  real  descent  into  Hades.     The  first  is  Tirgil's  ignorance 
and  the  second  his  discretion.     The  historical  probability  is  so 
great  as  to  amount  almost  to  a  certainty  that  Virgil  never  was 
initiated  into  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.     But  suppose  that  he 
had  been  initiated,  is  it  not  unlikely  that  a  man  so  devout  and 
so  learned  in   matters  of   religion  would  have  violated  the 
common   sense   and   outraged   the   universal   feelings  of  the 
Roman  and  Grecian  world  by  exposing  what  had  so  long  been 
considered  inviolable?     If  he  had  done  so,  is  it  to  be  supposed 
that   he   i?ould   have   retained  the  friendship  and  reverence 


I 


IN  LATER   LITEEAIURE  219 

of  Horace,  who,  when  the  sixth  book  of  the  vEneid  was  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  Latin  schoUirs,  wrote  these  verses : 

Vetabo,  qui  Cereris  sacrum 
Vulgarit  arcana?,  sub  iisderu 
Sit  trabJbus,  fragilemque  mecum 
Solvat  phaselum? 

On  the  other  hand,  is  it  likely  that  Horace  would  have 
written  these  lines,  if  he  had  retained  his  respect  for  Virgil  in 
such  untoward  circumstances?  "The  detestation  of  the  wretch 
who  reveals  the  mysteries  of  Ceres,  though  expressed  in  general 
terms,  must  be  applied  by  all  Rome  to  the  author  of  the  sixth 
book  of  the  .^lilneid.  Can  we  seriously  suppose  that  Horace 
would  have  branded  with  such  wanton  infamy  one  of  the 
men  in  the  world  whom  he  loved  and  honored  to  the  most? 
Nothing  remains  to  say,  except  that  Horace  himself  was  igno- 
rant of  his  friend's  allegorical  meaning;  which  the  Bishop 
of  Gloucester  has  since  revealed  to  the  world.  It  may  be 
so ;  yet,  for  my  own  part,  I  should '  be  very  well  satisfied  with 
understanding  Virgil  no  better  than  Horace  did." 

"It  is  from  extrinsical  circumstances,"  wrote  the  author  in 
another  place,  "that  we  may  expect  the  discovery  of  Virgil's 
allegory.  Every  one  of  these  circumstances  persuades  me 
that  Virgil  described  a  real,  not  a  mimic  world,  and  that  the 
scene  lay  in  the  infernal  shades,  and  not  in  the  temple 
of  Ceres. 

"The  singularity  of  the  Cumsean  shores  must  be  present  to 
every  traveler  who  has  once  seen  them.  To  a  superstitious 
mind,  the  thin  crust,  vast  cavities,  sulphurous  steams,  poison- 
ous exhalations  and  fiery  torrents  may  seem  to  trace  out  the 
narrow  confine  of  the  two  worlds.  The  Lake  Avernus  was 
the  chief  object  of  religious  horror;  the  black  woods  which 


220  MASTER    VIRGIL 

surrounded  it  wheu  Virgil  first  came  to  Naples  were  per- 
fectly suited  to  feed  the  superstition  of  the  people.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  this  deadly  flood  was  the  entrance  to 
hell,  and  an  oracle  was  once  established  on  its  banks  which 
pretended  by  magic  rites  to  call  up  the  departed  spirits. 
JEneas,  who  revolved  a  more  daring  enterprise,  addressed 
himself  to  the  priestess  of  those  dark  regions.  Their  conver- 
sation may,  perhaps,  inform  us  whether  an  initiation  or  a  real 
descent  to  the  shades  was  the  object  of  this  enterprise.  She 
endeavors  to  deter  the  hero,  by  setting  before  him  all  the  dan- 
gers of  his  rash  undertaking  : 

Facilis  descensus  Averno ; 
Noctes  atque  dies  patet  atri  janua  Ditis  : 
Sed  revocare  gradum,  superasque  evadere  ad  auras 
Hoc  opus,  hie  labor  est. 
"These  particulars  are  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  the  idea 
of  initiation,  but  perfectly  agreeable  to  that  of  a  real  descent. 
That  every  step  and  every  instant  may  lead  us  to  the  grave 
is    a    melancholy   truth.      The    mysteries    were    only    open 
at  stated  times,    a  few   days   at   most,    in    the   course   of  a 
vear.     The  mimic  descent  of  the  mysteries  Avas  laborious  and 
dangerous;  the  return  light,  easy  and  certain.     In  real  death 

this  order  is  inverted. 

Pauci  quos  sequus  amavil 

.Jupiter,  aut  ardens  evexit  ad  sethera  virtus, 

Diis  geniti,  potuere. 
These  heroes,  as  we  learn  from  the  speech  of  JEneas,  were 
Hercules,  Orpheus,  Castor  and  Pollux,  Theseus  and  Pirithous, 
Of  all  these,  antiquity  believed  that  before  their  death  they 
had  seen  the  habitations  of  the  dead;  nor,  indeed,  will  any 
of  the  circumstances  tally  with  a  supposed  initiation.  The 
adventure  of  Eurydice,  the  alternate  life  of  the  Brothers,  and 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  221 

the  forcible  intrusion  of  Alcides,  Theseus  and  Pirithous,  would 
mock  the  endeavors  of  the  most  subtle  critic  who  should  try- 
to  melt  them  down  into  his  favorite  mysteries.  The  exploits 
of  Hercules,  who  triumphed  over  the  king  of  terrors, 

Tartareum  ille  manu  custodem  in  vincla  petivit 

Ipsius  a  solio  regis  traxitque  trementem, 
was  a  wild  imagination  of  the  Greeks,  but  it  was  the  duty 
of  ancient  poets  to  adopt  and  embellish  these  popular  tradi- 
tions; and  it  is  the  interest  of  every  man  of  taste  to  ac(|uiesce 
in  their  poetical  fictions." 

IX 

These  very  natural  and  reasonable  reflections  upon  the 
meaning  of  Virgil,  and  particularly  the  suggestions  concern- 
ing the  efifect  of  the  scenery  about  Cumai,  upon  the  mind 
of  the  traveller  agree  with  the  lines  of  Silius  Italicus  which 
were  undoubtedly  written  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Virgil- 
worship  to  which  this  poet  was  prone.  The  verses  were  hand- 
somely translated  by  Addison : 

Averno  next  he  showed  his  wond'ring  guest, 
Averno  now  with  milder  virtues  bless'd; 
Black  with  surrounding  forests  then  it  stood. 
That  hung  above  and  darkened  all  the  flood : 
Clouds  of  unwholesome  vapors  rais'd  on  high, 
The  fluttering  bird  entangled  in  the  sky. 
Whilst  all  around  the  gloomy  prospects  spread 
An  awful  horror  and  religious  dread. 
Hence  to  the  borders  of  the  marsh  they  go 
That  mingles  with  the  baleful  streams  below. 
And  sometimes  with  a  mighty  yawn  'tis  said, 
Opens  a  dismal  passage  to  the  dead, 
Who,  pale  with  fear  the  rending  earth  survey 


222  MASTER    VIRGIL 

And  startle  at  the  sudden  flasli  of  day. 
The  dark  Cimmerian  grotto  then  he  paints, 
Describing  all  its  old  inhabitants, 
That  in  the  deep,  infernal  city  dwell'd 
And  lay  in  everlasting  night  concealed. 
Advancing  still,  the  spacious  fields  he  show'd 
That  with  the  smother'd  heat  of  brimstone  glow'd 
Through  frequent  cracks  the  steaming  sulphur  broke. 
Imprisoned  fires  in  the  close  dungeons  pent, 
Roar  to  get  loose,  and  struggle  for  a  vent. 
Eating  their  way  and  undermining  all, 
Till  with  a  mighty  burst  whole  mountains  fall 
Here,  as  'tis  said,  the  rebel  giants  lie 
And  when  to  move  th'  incumbent  load  they  try 
Ascending  vapors  on  the  day  prevail, 
The  sun  looks  sickly  and  the  skies  grow  pale. 
To  the  practical   mind  of  Addison  there  appeared  a  natural 

way  of  accounting  for  those  anti(jue  wonders  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Posilippo  which  had  been  attributed  to  the  magic 
of  Virgil,  without  heeding  either  ancient  or  mediieval  tradition. 
In  his  travels  he  wrote:  "At  about  eight  miles  distance  from 
Naples  lies  a  very  noble  scene  of  antiquities.  What  they  call, 
Virgil's  tomb  is  the  first  that  one  meets  with  on  the  way 
thither.  It  is  certain  that  this  poet  was  buried  at  Naples,  but 
T  think  it  is  almost  as  certain  that  his  tomb  stood  on  the  other 
side  of  the  town  which  looks  toward  Vesuvius.  By  this  tomb 
is  the  entrance  into  the  grotto  of  Pausilypo.  The  common 
people  of  Naples  believe  it  to  have  been  wrought  by  magic, 
and  that  Virgil  was  the  magician,  who  is  in  greater  repute 
among  the  Neapolitans  for  having  made  the  grotto  than  the 
^neid.  If  a  man  would  form  himself  a  just  idea  of  this 
place,  he  must  fancy  a  vast  rock  undermined  from  one  end  to 
the  other  and  a  highway  running  through  it  near  as  long  and 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  223 

as  broad  as  the  Mall  in  tlie  St.  James's  Park.  This  subter- 
raneous passage  is  much  mended  since  Seneca  gave  so  bad  a 
character  to  it.  The  entry  at  the  both  ends  is  higher  than  the 
middle  parts  of  it,  and  sinks  by  degrees  to  fling  in  more  light 
upon  the  rest.  Towards  the  middle  are  two  large  funnels 
bored  through  the  roof  of  the  grotto  to  let  in  light  and  fresh 
air.  There  are  nowhere  about  the  mountains  any  vast  heaps 
of  stones,  though  it  is  certain  the  great  quantities  of  them 
that  are  dug  out  of  the  rock  could  not  easily  conceal  themselves 
had  they  not  been  consumed  in  the  moles  and  buildings 
of  Naples.  This  confirmed  me  in  a  conjecture  which  I  made 
at  a  first  sight  of  this  subterraneous  passage,  that  it  was  not  at 
first  designed  so  much  for  a  highway  as  a  stone  quarry,  but 
that  the  inhabitants,  finding  a  double  advantage  by  it,  hewed 
it  into  the  form  we  now  see.  Perhaps,  the  same  design  gave 
the  original  to  the  Sibyl's  grotto,  considering  the  prodigious 
multitude  of  palaces  that  stood  in  its  neighborhood." 

X 

Beckford,  the  author  of  Vathek,  though  ignorant 
of  everything  beyond  the  nearest  common-place  of  the 
Virgilian  legend,  showed  plainly  in  his  Italy  that  his 
imagination  was  affected  by  the  little  he  knew.  "At  length," 
he  wrote  in  November,  1780,  "a  bright  gleam  of  sunshine 
summoned  me  to  the  broad  terrace  of  Chiaja  which  commands 
the  whole  coast  of  Posilipo.  Insensibly  I  drew  towards  it, 
and  soon  reached  the  entrance  to  the  grotto,  which  lay  in  dark 
shades,  whilst  the  crags  that  lower  over  it  were  brightly  illu- 
minated. Shrubs  and  vines  grow  luxuriantly  in  the  crevices 
of  the  rock.     To  the  right  a  grove  of  pines  springs  from  the 


224  MASTER   VIE  GIL 

highest  pinnacles;  on  the  left  bay  and  chestnut  conceal  the 
tomb  of  Virgil,  placed  on  the  summit  of  a  cliff  which  impends 
over  the  opening  of  the  grotto,  and  is  fringed  with  vegetation. 
Beneath  are  several  wide  apertures  hollowed  in  the  solid 
stone,  which  lead  to  caverns  sixty  or  seventy  feet  in 
depth,  where  a  number  of  peasants  who  were  employed  in 
quarrying  made  a  strange  but  not  absolutely  unharmonious 
din  with  their  tools  and  their  voices.  Walking  out  of  the 
sunshine  I  seated  myself  on  a  loose  stone  immediately  beneath 
the  first  gloomy  arch  of  the  grotto,  and  looking  down  the  long 
and  solemn  perspective  terminated  by  a  speck  of  gray,  uncer- 
tain light,  venerated  a  work  which  some  old  chroniclers  have 
imagined  as  ancient  as  the  Trojan  war.  It  was  here  the 
mysterious  race  of  Cimmerians  performed  their  infernal  rites, 
and  it  was  this  excavation,  perhaps,  which  led  to  their  abode. 
The  Neapolitans  attribute  a  more  modern,  though  full  as 
problematical  an  origin  to  their  famous  cavern,  and  most 
piously  believe  it  to  have  been  formed  by  the  enchantments 
of  Virgil,  who,  as  Addison  very  justly  observes,  is  better  known 
at  Naples  in  his  magical  character  than  as  the  author  of  the 
^neid.  This  strange  infatuation  most  probably  arose  from 
the  vicinity  of  the  tomb  in  which  his  ashes  are  supposed  to 
have  been  deposited;  and  which,  according  to  poj)ular  tradi- 
tion, was  guarded  by  the  same  spirits  who  assisted  in  constructing 
the  cave.  But  whatever  may  have  given  rise  to  these  ideas, 
certain  it  is  they  were  not  confined  to  the  lower  ranks  alone. 
King  Robert  (Mem.  pour  vie  de  Petrarque,  Vol.  I.,  p.  439)  a 
wise  though  far  from  poetical  monarch,  conducted  his  friend 
Petrarch  with  great  solemnity  to  the  spot;  and  pointing  to  the 
entrance  of  the  grotto  very  gravely  asked  him  whether  he  did 
not  adopt  the  general  belief   and  conclude  this  stupendous 


IX  LATER   LITERATURE  225 

passage  derived  its  origin  from  Virgil's  powerful  incan- 
tations? The  answer,  I  think,  may  be  easily  conjectured. 
When  I  had  sat  for  some  time  contemplating  this  dusky 
avenue,  and  trying  to  persuade  myself  that  it  was  hewn  by  the 
Cimmerians,  I  retreated  without  proceeding  any  farther,  and 
followed  a  narrow  path  vhich  led  me,  after  some  windings 
and  turnings,  along  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  across  a 
vineyard,  to  that  retired  nook  of  the  rocks  which  shelters 
Virgil's  tomb,  most  venerably  mossed  over  and  more  than 
half  concealed  by  brushes  and  vegetation.  The  clown  who 
conducted  me  remained  aloof  at  awful  distance,  whilst  I  sat 
commercing  with  the  manes  of  my  beloved  poet,  or  straggled 
about  the  shrubbery  which  hangs  directly  above  the   mouth 

of  the  grot Clambering  high  above  the  cavern, 

I  hazarded  my  neck  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  pines 

However,  I  descended  alive,  as  Virgil's  genii,  I  am  resolved  to 
believe,  were  my  protectors." 

With  casual  allusions  not  unlike  these,  the  legends  which 
gained  their  first  literary  form  through  the  efforts  of  English- 
men faded  gradually  from  the  English  imagination.  But  in 
the  light  of  history  the  legends  of  Virgil,  however  absurd 
they  may  seem,  are  seen  to  be  imbedded  in  the  foundation 
of  modern  literature.  If  the  complete  history  of  fiction 
should  ever  be  written,  the  author  of  it  will  find  a  knowledge 
of  these  legends  indispensable. 

XI 

When  the  legends  were  dismissed  from  the  field  of  general 
reading,  they  became  a  proper  theme  for  the  disquisitions 
of  specialists   in   antiquarian   study.     The   work   of  Naude, 


226  MASTER    VIRGIL 

already  alluded  to,  was  translated  into  English  by  Davies,  and 
William  Godwin  mentioned  Virgil  in  that  verbose  and  shallow, 
but  well  printed  book,  Lives  of  the  Necromancers.  Von  der 
Hagen,  besides  the  remarks  in  his  Letters,  which  have  already 
been  quoted  in  these  pages,  discussed  the  topic  more  at  length 
in  the  Gesammtahenteuer ,  treating  it  in  the  way  of  anecdote, 
rather  than  by  philosophical  inquiry.  His  greatest  merit  was 
the  citation  of  a  large  number  of  books  in  which  the  tegends 
were  to  be  found.  Francis  Douce,  in  Tilustrations  of  Shakespeare, 
recalled  the  tale  of  the  pound  of  flesh  in  which  Virgil's  name 
figured,  and  gave  some  valuable  bibliographical  suggestions  to 
William  J.  Thoms,  who  embodied  them  in  the  preface  to  his 
reprint  of  Doesborcke's  Virgilius.  The  collection  of  which 
this  was  a  part  was  transferred  to  the  German  by  R.  O. 
Spazier,  who  added  to  the  Virgilius  the  metrical  narrative 
of  Aliprando.  Thomas  Wright  in  Sorcery  and  Magic,  a  book 
published  both  in  England  and  America,  presented  a  modern- 
ized and  abbreviated  version  of  the  pseudo-biography,  in  order 
to  supply  necessary  links  in  the  history  of  mediaeval  black  art. 
The  impression  produced  by  his  work,  however,  is  that  of  a 
miscellany  rather  than  of  a  treatise  with  unity  of  purpose. 
The  same  is  true  of  Massmann's  review  of  the  legends  in  the 
Kaiserchronik.  But  it  was  necessary  that  the  material  for  the 
study  should  be  gathered  from  all  sides,  and  these  authors  per- 
formed the  task.. 

Brief  papers,  by  SiebenJiaar  on  the  fables  which  gathered 
about  the  name  of  Virgil,  \_Defahnlis  quce  media  cdate  de  Publio 
Virgilio  Marone  circumferebantur,']  by  Schwubbe  on  the  literary 
authority  of  Virgil  in  the  middle  ages,  [P.  Virgilius  per 
viediam  cdatem  gratia  atque  auctoritate  fiorentissimus,^  liy  Piper 
on  Virgil  as  a  theologian  and  prophet,    [Virgilius  al-^  Theolog 


/,V  LATER    LITERATURE  227 

und  Prophet  dcs  Seidenihums  in  der  Klrche;  EvaiujelUche  Kalen- 
dei  1862,]  by  Creizenach  on  the  ^neid,  the  fourth  eclogue 
and  tlie  Pharsalia  in  medieval  times,  [Z)('e  ^Eiiei^,  die  vlerte 
Eciogt  und  die  Pharsalia  im  Mittelalter,^  by  Michel  on  the 
changes  which  befel  both  Virgil  and  his  poems  in  the  middle 
ages,  \_Quce  vices  quceque  midatlone^  ct  Virgillum  ipsitm  et  ejus 
carmina  per  mediam  atatem  exceperint,']  by  Genthe  on  the  renown 
oi'  Virgil  as  a  poet  and  magician,  [^Leben  nnd  Fortleben  des 
Publiiis  Virgilius  Maro  ah  Dichter  und  Zauberer,!^  by  Milberg  in 
his  Memorabilia  and  Mirabilia  of  Virgil,  all  attested  the  interest 
taken  in  the  subject  by  men  of  letters  in  France  and  Germany, 
and  pointed  vaguely  to  the  proper  manner  of  dealing  with  it. 
Bibliographers  like  Sir  Edgerton  Brydges  in  the  Polyanthea 
called  attention  to  passages  iu  this  or  that  ancient  writer  in 
reference  to  the  Virgiliau  tales  which  had  escaped  previous 
scrutiny,  and  Du  Meril  in  his  Melanges  heaped  up  with  little 
regard  to  order  a  mass  of  things  indispensable  to  the  study. 
Zappert  in  his  Fortleben,  of  which  free  use  has  been  made  in 
these  pages,  reduced  this  confusion  of  learning,  so  far  as  it 
pertained  to  the  literary  and  social  aspect  of  Virgil's  mediaeval 
reputation,  to  a  system  which  enjoyed  the  merit  of  possessing 
a  beginning,  a  middle  and  an  end,  and  if  he  had  been  as 
copious  in  the  text  as  in  the  notes,  would  have  left  little  to  be 
desired.  On  tlie  other  hand  Roth  [  Ueber  den  Zauberer  Virgilius 
in  Pfeiffer's  Germanial  wrought  into  shape  the  multitudinous 
reading  of  two  or  three  generations  respecting  the  magical 
renown  of  Virgil.  He  conceived  this  phase  of  Virgil's  fame 
to  be  quite  distinct  from  those  that  pertained  to  the  historic 
development  of  character,  or  to  the  glamour  (jf  literary  tra- 
dition, and  would  have  it  that  the  legends  originated  iu  the 
once  prevalent  craze  for  the  collection  of  relics,  a  mania  so 


228  MASTER    VIE  GIL 

universal  that  the  bones  neither  of  saint  nor  sinner  were  safe 
from  spoliation.  He  looked  upon  the  anecdote  related  by  John 
of  Salisbury  about  a  certain  lunatic  who  wasted  his  money  in 
the  search  for  Virgil's  remains  as  the  corner  stone  of  the 
"whole  fabric,  and  then  examining  the  imposing  narrative  given 
by  Gervase  as  to  the  finding  not  only  of  Maro's  ashes,  but  also 
of  his  book  on  the  ars  notoria,  maintained  that  the  development 
of  a  single  incident,  historic  in  its  first  setting-forth,  but 
highly  mythical  in  the  outcome,  indicated  the  conditions 
under  which  all  the  rest  of  the  tales  arose.  This  theory  is  a 
plausible  one  and  is  supported  by  many  analogies  in  folk-lore 
as  well  as  in  the  more  deliberate  forms  of  literature.  It  was 
dismissed  rather  brusquely  by  Comparetti  whose  desire  to  in- 
clude in  a  single  work  all  that  related  to  the  mediseval  fame 
of  Virgil  led  him  to  reject  views  that  did  not  agree 
with  his  imaginative  philosophy,  or  yielded  nothing  to  his 
truly  exceptional  genius  for  giving  to  the  disjointed 
fragments  of  legend  and  tradition  a  vital  correlation  with 
history. 

Comparetti  divided  his  work  into  two  parts.  The  first  part, 
in  sixteen  chapters,  treated  of  the  position  of  Virgil  in  the 
classic  world  ;  of  his  precedence  with  the  early  Latin  gramma- 
rians ;  of  the  marks  of  his  general  popularity  in  the  times  of  the 
empire ;  of  the  sway  which  his  works  held  in  tiie  schools 
of  rhetoric ;  of  the  imitation  by  which  the  early  Christian  poets 
showed  their  knowledge  of  his  works  and  those  of  other  mas- 
ters in  Latin  letters ;  of  the  centonists  and  commentators : 
of  the  allegorical  interpretations  of  the  Virgilian  poems; 
of  the  survival  in  Christian  times  of  post-classical  methods 
of  study  and  interpretation  ;  of  the  growth  of  the  belief  in 
the  poet  as  a  prophet  who  foretold  the  coming  of  Christ  and 


IN  LATER   LITERATURE  229 

the  later  applications  of  the  doctrine  that  the  ^ueid  was  an 
elaborate  allegory  of  human  life ;  of  grammatical  study  and 
of  the  attitude  of  Latin  poetry  in  mediseval  times  toward 
Virgil ;  of  the  feeling  of  antiquity  shown  by  the  clergy ;  of  the 
place  assigned  by  them  to  Virgil ;  of  his  relation  to  the  poets 
in  the  spoken  languages ;  of  Dante's  intellectual  character, 
of  the  limits  of  his  classical  learning,  and  of  his  relations  to 
clericalism  and  to  the  renaissance ;  of  his  sympathy  with  Virgil 
in  thought  and  in  style  ;  of  the  historic  and  symbolic  reasons 
for  the  choice  of  Virgil  as  a  guide  through  the  Inferno  in  the 
place  of  Aristotle;  of  the  respect  in  which  the  Virgil  of  Dante 
differed  from  the  Virgil  of  tradition ;  of  Virgil's  relations  to 
Christianity,  as  Dante  understood  them,  and  finally  of  the  rise 
of  the  romantic  and  })urely  legendary  idea  of  Virgil  as  shown 
in  the  DolopatJim. 

In  the  second  part  the  author  took  up  the  subject  of  Virgil 
in  popular  legend  and  discussed  the  i*elation  of  romance  liter- 
ature at  its  beginnings  to  the  Virgil  of  literary  tradition  and 
to  the  prevalent  impression  of  him  as  a  wise  man  and  a  necro- 
mancer. He  analyzed  the  reports  of  Conrad  of  Querfurt, 
Gervase  of  Tilbury  and  Alexander  Neckam  concerning  works 
of  magic  done  by  Virgil  in  Naples;  described  the  transfer 
of  this  legendary  activity  to  Rome ;  sketched  the  growth  of  the 
tales,  as  shown  in  early  French  and  German  literature,  and 
enlarged  upon  the  alliance  brought  about  between  the  Virgil 
of  magical  tradition  and  the  prophetical  Virgil  revered  in  the 
church.  Then  he  enumerated  sporadic  examj)les  of  tales 
of  Virgilian  magic  incorporated  into  books  that  in  general 
stood  quite  unrelated  to  the  subject.  The  rise  of  the  formal 
narrative  of  Virgilian  magic  was  explained,  the  allusions 
of  Italian  literature  to  the  subject  collected  and  ranged   in 


230  MASTER   VIRGIL 

orderly  review  and  the  book  completed  with  the  rare  traces 
of  the  legends  found  in  modern  Italy. 

In  a  voluminous  appendix  Comparetti  presented  the  original 
text  of  the  passages  which  related  to  the  subject,  from  the 
works  of  Conrad,  Gervase,  Alexander ;  the  romances,  L' Image 
du  Monde,  Gleomades,  JRenars  Contrefait,  and  Vespasian;  the 
German  verses  of  Jans  Enenkel,  Heinrich  von  Muglin,  and 
the  Italian  of  Bartolommeo  Carracciolo,  Antonio  Pucci  and 
Buonamcnte  Aliprando.  The  French  chap  book  Les  Faictz 
Ifeive'dleux  de  Virgille  was  reproduced  in  full,  a  valuable 
reprint  for  those  who  already  have  Thoms's  Earhj  English 
Prose  Romances.  To  these  was  added  the  popular  Italian  poem 
Pietro  Barliario,  not  so  much  for  the  light  it  cast  on  the  history 
of  the  Virgilian  legends  as  on  account  of  its  rarity  and  its 
importance  in  the  study  of  Italian  folk-lore. 

XII. 

The  thorough  erudition  of  Comparetti  precluded  from  the 
outset  any  hope  of  upsetting  liis  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
legends  by  the  discovery  of  new  material  affecting  the  argu- 
ment. His  work  must,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  furnish  its 
own  refutation,  or  it  must  be  acknowledged  superior  to  attack. 
In  Germany  more  or  less  dissent  to  his  conclusions  was  shown 
in  numerous  reviews  and  other  short  writings,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  was  the  paper  of  NV.  Victor  \der  Ursprung  der  Vir- 
gilsage  in  the  Zeitscrift  fur  romanisdie  Philologie ;  also  see  The 
Nation,  No.  1228,  and  The  Academy,  No.  896,  new  issue]  on 
the  origin  of  the  Virgilian  myth.  The  Count  de  Puymaigre 
gave  a  resume  of  Comparetti's  book  in  French,  and  Gaston  Bois- 
sier  reviewed  the  original  with  approval.  Discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject was  renewed  upon  the  appearance  of  the  present  work,  and 
articles  by  Professor  T.  F.   Crane,  Count  Ugo   Balzani,  Pro- 


IN  LATER    LITERATURE  231 

fessor  Vietor  and  Professor  W.  Y.  Scllar,  in  English,  and  by 
Henry  Carnoy  in  French,  showed  the  interest  felt  by  scholars 
in  theVirgilian  problem. 

While  this  discussion  upon  the  general  theme  was  going  on, 
an  investigation  was  in  progress  concerning  an  important  detail 
in  the  mediaeval  renown  of  Virgil.  The  editors  of  the  Elzevirian 
edition  of  the  French  Dolopathos,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
if  there  were  in  existence  a  Latin  work  such  as  Herbers  claimed 
to  have  translated,  the  duty  of  searching  for  it  fell  upon  the  scholars 
of  Germany,  since  the  manuscript  must  be  concealed  among  the 
literary  treasures  under  their  control.  The  challenge  was  accepted 
by  Adolf  Mussafia  and  Hermann  Oesterley,  the  former  confining 
his  labors  to  the  libraries  of  Austria-Hungary,  while  the  latter 
had  the  range  (if  he  chose  to  wander  so  far)  of  what  is  now  the  Ger- 
man Empire  It  Avas  not  Mussafia's  good  fortune  to  recover  the  au- 
thoritative manuscript,  but  he  did  obtain  Latin  versions  of  the 
tales  told  by  Jehan,  which  evinced  their  widespread  popularity.  In 
1864  he  found  in  the  Hof  bibliothek  in  Vienna  the  narrative  of  the 
Dolopathos  in  Latin  prose.  Later  he  found  at  Prague  two  other 
copies,  one  of  which  was  in  the  library  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Vitus 
and  the  other  in  the  University.  He  published  the  results  of  his 
search  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Vienna  Academy  for  the  yeai^s 
1864  and  1867.  However,  the  characteristics  of  these  writings 
left  it  still  an  open  question,  whether  they  were  original  works  or 
translations  from  the  French.  The  same  difficulty  was  found 
with  a  manuscript  discovered  by  Oesterley  in  the  University 
Library  at  Innsbruck.  The  only  vestige  of  the  original  work, 
by  which  it  was  fislt  that  it  could  be  recognized  forthwith,  was  a 
fragment  preserved  by  Martene  in  his  AmpUssima  Colledio.  It 
was  apparently  the  dedication  of  a  book  by  the  monk  Jehan  to 
Bertrand,  Bishop  of  Metz.  Martene  credited  the  extract  to  a 
writing  preserved  in  the  Abbey  of  Aurea  Vallis.     As  it  was 


232  MASTER     VIRGIL 

known  that  this  house  was  sacked  by  the  French  in  1793,  it  hap- 
pily occurred  to  Oesterley  that  some  of  the  monks  might  have 
gathered  up  the  most  valued  of  their  literary  treasures,  and  es- 
caping through  a  subterranean  passage,  found  refuge  in  Luxem- 
burg. If  that  were  true,  then  the  place  to  seek  the  long-lost 
manuscript  was  in  the  Athenreum  Library.  An  appeal  was  made 
to  Dr.  Schotter,  the  librarian,  who  carefully  inspected  the  manu- 
scripts in  his  care  and  at  length  came  upon  the  one  from  which 
Martene  had  quoted.  Here  the  work  of  Jehan  was  complete  from 
the  first  line  of  the  dedication  to  the  close  of  the  narrative.  Oes- 
terley published  it  in  1873  {Johannis  de  Alia  Silva  Dolopathos 
sive  de  Bege  et  Septem  Sajyientibns],  accompanying  the  Latin 
text  with  a  few  annotations  and  an  introduction  in  German  in 
which  he  sought  to  prove  that  Jehan  obtained  the  material  for 
the  subordinate  tales  in  his  romance  from  pojjular  lore. 
The  mere  reading  of  these  little  tales  is  sufficient  to  convince  one 
that  Oesterley's  opinion  is  more  probable  than  any  other.  There 
is  much  to  support  the  view  that  in  them  is  found  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  the  ancient  traditions  which,  after  having  been  for  ages 
the  property  of  the  migrating  races  of  Europe,  were  carried  back 
in  more  recent  times  to  the  imitative  peoples  of  south-western 
Asia,  and  again  reproduced  with  all  the  colors  of  the  orient  as  a 
proof  of  Arabian  influence  over  the  western  fancy. 

The  variations  upon  the  theme  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men  may 
be  divided  into  three  classes :  those  in  which  each  of  the  wise 
men  relates  a  story  to  the  king  for  the  purpose  of  delaying  the 
death  of  the  prince ;  those  in  which  the  queen  replies  to  each 
wise  man  in  turn,  and  finally,  those  in  which  the  wise  men  in  a 
second  series  of  tales  respond  to  the  queen.  The  Dolopathos  be- 
longs to  the  first  of  these  classes.  Beyond  bitter  complaints  and 
accusations  the  queen  has  nothing  to  say.     There  are,  therefore, 


IN  LATER   LITER  A  TV  RE  233 

ouly  eight  subsidiary  tales,  seven  by  strangers  who  visit  King 
Dolopathos,  one  after  another,  on  successive  days,  and  the  eighth 
by  Virgil.  Herbers  added  important  incidents  to  the  tale  of  the 
second  wise  ruan.  When  he  came  to  the  tale  attributed  to  Virgil, 
he  prefaced  it  with  the  extremely  interesting  story  of  the  statue 
"which  resembled  a  wanton  woman.  Nothing  of  this  is  found  in 
the  Latin.  The  first  tale  is  that  of  the  faithful  hound  killed  by 
its  mistaken  master ;  the  second,  that  of  a  former  treasurer  to  a 
king,  whom  he  robs  in  order  to  gratify  a  spendthrift  son,  and  of 
the  stratagems  by  Avhich  the  son  escapes  the  officers  after  his 
fether's  death ;  the  third,  of  a  Roman  who  preserves  his  father 
alive  in  the  midst  of  a  general  massacre  of  the  aged  ;  the  fourth, 
of  a  young  man  who  signs  a  bond,  the  counterpart  of  that  cele- 
brated in  The  Merchant  of  Venice;  the  fifth,  that  of  a  widow 
who,  in  recompense  for  the  death  of  her  own  son,  was  allowed  to 
adopt  the  son  of  the  emperor;  the  sixth,  of  a  master-thief,  who, 
to  save  his  sons  from  death,  related  how  he  escaped  from  a  giant, 
how  he  was  frightened  by  the  sight  of  three  robbers  hanged  on  a 
gallows,  and  how  he  outwitted  the  lamias  that  fed  on  human 
flesh ;  the  seventh,  of  the  Knight  of  the  Swan;  and  the  eighth, 
of  a  man  at  Rome,  who,  being  jealous  of  his  wife,  locked  her 
out  of  the  house  one  night  while  she  was  gadding  about,  and  was 
needlessly  alarmed  when  she  pretended  to  throw  herself  into  a 
well.  All  these  tales  are  told  compactly,  and  they  contribute  to 
the  main  purpose  in  a  way  unknown  to  the  ordinary  forms  of  the 
Seven  Wise  Men. 

A  curious  detail  of  the  narrative  is  the  way  the  unknown  wise 
men  are  introduced.  They  are  all,  of  course,  aged  and  vener- 
able men,  with  long  white  hair  and  beard.  They  all  salute  King 
Dolopathos  and  the  assembled  multitude,  and  are  saluted  in  re- 
turn with  great  ceremony.     It  is  easy  to  see,  in  spite  of  the  lit- 


234  MASTEB    VIRGIL 

erary  variations  and  embellishments  of  Jehan,  that  the  tale,  as 
transmitted  by  word  of  mouth,  made  the  seven  appear  practically 
the  same,  with  an  identical  verbal  formula  for  describing  them- 
selves and  their  occupation.  All  explain  that  they  are  Roman 
citizens.  Five  use  the  same  words,  unvs  de  septem  sa-pientihus 
dlcor,  to  show  who  they  are  ;  the  sixth  says  unus  septem  sapientium 
vocor,  and  the  seventh  changes  the  phrase  to  unum  de  sapientibiis 
vie  esse  noveris.  In  spite  of  their  long  beards  all  wear  the  Roman 
toga.  They  tell  the  king  in  artificially  varied  speeches  that  their 
habit  is  to  wander  through  the  countries  and  the  cities,  passing 
castles  and  villages,  conversing  with  people  of  various  tongues, 
studying  laws  and  justice  and  judgments  and  manners  of  men 
and  the  accidents  of  human  life,  that  they  may  explain  these 
matters  to  kings  and  princes.  Though  they  are  the  wisest  of 
men,  yet  they  find  always  something  to  learn  as  well  as  to  teach ; 
or,  as  one  of  their  number  puts  it,  doubtless  using  the  traditional 
rhythmic  form  elaborately  modified  by  the  others,  they  travel 
semper  discens  se7nper[(jue]  docens. 

The  first  of  the  wise  men  rides  on  a  white  mule ;  the  second 
on  a  large  ass.  The  third  bestrides  a  black  hoi'se,  while  the 
fourth  comes  on  a  sorrel  mule,  mido  sorello.  The  horse  ridden 
by  the  fifth  long-beard  is  not  definitely  described,  and  the  sixtli 
has  neither  horse  nor  mule,  but  goes  afoot,  walking  with  slow 
and  dignified  gait.  The  seventh  rides  a  dun  (favellus)  horse; 
but  Virgil  comes  like  the  lightning,  having  wings  to  his  feet. 
Several  oi  the  strangers  bear  an  olive  branch  in  token  of  their 
peaceful  mission ;  but  the  seventh  in  the  list,  who  surpasses  all 
the  rest  in  the  magnificence  of  his  apparel,  carries  a  golden 
ferule  in  his  hand- — a  badge,  perhaps,  of  his  office  as  a  teacher. 

While  Jehan  uses  many  words  unknown  to  the  classic  Latin, 
and  although  his  orthography,  judged  by  the  common  standards, 


IN  LATER    LITERATURE  235 

is,  to  say  the  least,  eccentric ;  nevertheless,  he  shows  on  almost 
every  page  the  traces  of  study  in  ancient  literature,  both  Latin 
and  Greek.  The  tale  told  by  the  second  wise  man  indicates  a 
knowledge  of  Herodotus  and  possibly  Pausanias,  if  not  of  the 
scholiast  on  Aristophanes ;  while  that  of  the  robber  and  the 
giant  is  simply  the  story  of  Ulysses  and  Polyphemus  in  a  more 
popular  form.  Jehan  was  aware  of  this,  for  in  the  moralization 
on  the  fable  he  carefully  inserts  the  name  of  the  cyclops  whom 
the  wily  Greek  outwitted.  Of  course,  it  is  not  strange  that  a 
monkish  writer  should  betray  familiarity  with  the  Scriptures 
and  with  Christian  writers  like  Augustine,  Jerome,  Eusebius, 
Cyril,  Fulgeutius,  Cyprian,  and  the  anonymous  authors  of  the 
Gospels  of  the  Infancy.  Out  of  these  he  might  have  learned 
the  names,  attributes,  and  legends  of  the  heathen  deities  fre- 
quently used  in  the  Dolopathos.  But  he  quotes  Horace,  Virgil, 
Cicero,  Juvenal,  and  cites  unmistakably  Petronius,  Statins, 
Ovid,  Quintilian,  and  Aurelius  Victor,  among  the  Latins,  and 
Plato,  Homer,  Dion  Cassius,  and  Theophrastus  among  the  Greek 
authors.  He  was  acquainted  with  the  legend  of  the  River  Pac- 
tolus,  with  that  of  Phalaris's  brazen  bull,  with  the  fame  of 
Alexandria  as  the  home  of  luxurious  magnificence,  and  with 
that  of  India,  rich  in  precious  things.  The  introduction,  and 
the  sermon  near  the  conclusion  of  the  book,  indicate  more  than 
a  passing  acquaintance  with  the  opinions  of  the  old  philoso- 
phers. In  addition  to  all  this,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
young  prince,  when  at  school,  was  taught  at  the  outset  a 
thorough  knowledge,  not  only  of  the  Latin,  but  also  of  the 
Greek  language. 

The  only  peculiarities  of  orthography  in  the  version  of  the 
book  given  by  Oesterley  which  it  is  necessary  to  mention  here 
are  the  two  forms,  Dolopathos  and  Dolopatos,  foi    ihe  name  of 


236  MASTER    VIRGIL 

the  king,  and  the  variations  in  the  name  of  the  prince.  Oes- 
terley,  following  his  manuscript,  has  Luscinius,  though  Lucisnius 
occurs  in  some  places.  In  the  French  translation  the  name 
became  Lucinien  and  Lucimien,  the  latter  being  the  form  ac- 
cepted by  Brunet  and  Montaiglon,  and  the  one  adopted  in  the 
preceding  pages.  AU  presuppositions  as  to  the  probable  form 
of  this  appellation  in  Jehan's  undiscovered  writing  were  vain. 
Comparetti,  though  he  was  acquainted  with  the  fragments  dis- 
covered by  Professor  Mussafia,  apparently  conjectured  that  the 
name  would  turn  out  to  be  Lucinianus,  and  so  used  Luciniano 
in  Italian.  This  was  a  natural  inference  from  the  use  of  Lu- 
cinien in  one  of  the  French  manuscripts,  and  the  result  justifies 
the  common  observation  that  Gallic  versions  of  proper  names 
from  other  languages  can  not  be  trusted. 

It  was,  perhaps,  Jehan's  acquaintance  with  ancient  writings, 
and  his  lack  in  various  directions  of  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
antique,  as  was  evinced,  for  example,  by  his  placing  Mantua  in 
Sicily,  which  led  him  to  give  Virgil  so  prominent  a  place  in  his 
romance.  He  calls  Virgil  a  most  celebrated  poet,  famosissimus 
poeta,  and  adds  in  a  spirit  worthy  of  Macrobius  that  he  was  fore- 
most among  philosophers,  inter  pkilosophos  prcBcipuus.  While 
the  libelulum  manuale  which  he  attributes  to  Virgil,  as  a  compend 
of  all  the  sciences,  contained  a  treatise  on  divination  by  means 
of  the  planets  and  other  stars ;  yet  he  is  as  careful  as  Neckam 
not  to  accuse  his  poet-philosopher  of  magic.  Nevertheless,  he 
leaves  the  book  in  the  hands  of  its  author  even  after  his  death, 
showing  that  he  accepted  the  almost  universal  formula  of  folk- 
lore respecting  the  final  disposition  of  magical  writings,  and  this 
was  sufficient  to  warrant  Herbers  in  asserting  that  the  treatise 
was  one  on  the  subject  of  necromancy.  The  close  relationship  of 
Jehan's  work,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  earlier  philosophy,  and  on 


IN   LATER    LITERATURE  237 

the  other  hand  to  the  main  hypothesis  of  science  in  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  certainly  does  not  detract  from  the 
strength  of  the  argument  advanced  in  the  preceding  pages,  nor 
does  it  relieve  of  its  difficulties  the  duplex  theory  of  Comparetti. 
The  division  made  between  literary  tradition  anterior  to  and 
including  Dante,  on  the  one  hand,  and  romantic  or  legendary 
tradition,  on  the  other,  as  a  thing  subsequent  to  Dante,  by 
which  he  could  not  have  been  influenced,  would  seem  an 
arbitrary  distinction.  In  fact,  to  support  it,  Comparetti  was 
forced  to  consider  one  or  two  important  writings  out  of  their 
chronological  order^  and  therefore  out  of  their  proper  relation 
to  the  times  in  which  they  were  written.  Nevertheless  his 
work  is  of  the  highest  utility,  not  only  to  students  of  Virgil, 
but  to  students  of  Dante.  As  to  the  work  now  in  hand,  the 
author  will  be  satisfied  should  he  have  widened  the  circle 
of  Virgilian  study.  If  he  should  be  read  and  Comparetti 
quoted,  it  would  be  aU  that  he  could  ask. 


INDEX. 


Abbo,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Abbo  of  Fleury,  cited  as  an  imitator  of 
Virgil,  52. 

Achilles,  birds  avoided  the  tomb  of,  93. 

Adalbero,  cited  as  au  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Adam,  mediseval  humor  at  the  expense 
of,  138;  said  to  have  been  an  alche- 
mist. 90. 

Adam  de  la  Halle,  storv  of  Aristotle  told 
by,  138. 

Addison,  passage  from  Silius  Italicus  on 
the  scenery  at  Oumse  translated  by,  221. 

Adenez  li  Rois,  the  Komance  of  Cleo- 
mades  written  by,  89;  statue.s  repre- 
senting the  seasons  described  by,  127. 

JEmilius  Macer,  proficiency  in  medicine 
attributed  to,  85. 

.ffineas,  ship  of,  supposed  to  have  been 
preserved  in  Rome,  120;  shield  of,  as  de- 
scribed by  Virgil,  of  use  to  the  myth 
makers,  ll":':;  typical  of  man  in  general, 
72  ;  the  virtues  taken  by,  as  an  offering 
to  Proserpine,  65. 

JEneid  the,  life  of  activity  symbolized 
bv,  74  ;  renewed  popularity  of  allegori- 
cal interpretations  of,  in  the  romance 
period,  73;  allegory  of,  explained  by 
Fulgentius,  70;  sixth  book  of,  supposed 
to  be  hased  on  astrology,  65;  associated 
with  the  military  renownoftheempire, 
119  ;  future  state  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments explained  in,  211;  adaptation 
of,  to  the  times  and  to  Roman  civiliza- 
tion, 40;  attributed  by  chroniclers  to 
the  skill  of  a  magician,  50. 

Agartus,  wild  beasts  frightened  by  the 
statue  of  the  Nile  in,  64. 

Agate,  sensitiveness  of,  to  the  diseased 
condition  of  the  human  body,  19. 

Agetstein,  a  German  equivalent  for  the 
Arabian  mountain  of  loadstone,  28. 

Agius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Ahimazar,  said  to  have  been  an  alche- 
mist, 90. 

Almoin,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Alanus  Magnus,  the  abyssum  of  Virgil 
described  bv,  in  verses  on  Sidonius,  48. 

Albertus  Magnus,  a  sculptured  head 
that  talked,  and  bronze  flies,  made  by, 
97. 

Alcseus,  proficiency  in  medicine  attri- 
buted to,  85. 

Ale  h  em  y,  attributed  to  Virgil  by  Vincent 
of  Beauvais,  5,  89. 


Alcidiana,  a  character  in  the  romance 
of  Polexander,  28. 

Alcuin,  books  in  the  library  of  York 
enumerated  bv,  47;  cited  as  an  imitator 
of  Virgil,  52. 

Aldhelm,  the  poem  of,  on  the  vices,  al- 
luded to,  73. 

Alexander,  statues  clothed  by  the  em- 
peror, in  Byzantium,  123. 

Alexander,  said  to  have  been  an  alche- 
mist, 90;  visit  of  t(j  Jerusalem,  83. 

Alexander  of  Toleta,  anecdote  told  by, 
concerning  the  reward  given  to  Virgil 
by  Octavian,  63. 

Alexander  Severus,  use  of  the  sortes 
Virgilianse  by,  44  ;  statue  of  Virgil 
placed  beside  that  of  Achilles  by.  45. 

Alexis,  confessions  of  Virgil  in  the,  134. 

Alguazil,  said  to  have  been  f.  contem- 
porary of  Virgil  at  Cordova,  82. 

Alipraiidina,  versified  chronicle  of  Man- 
tua, 34. 

Aliprando,  catalogue  of  Virgil's  wonders 
made  by,  110, 194;  Virgil's  magical  voy- 
age described  by,  147. 

Alitros,  Homeric  word  used  in  the  Greek 
paraphrase  of  the  fourth  eclogue,  162. 

All-science,  taught  in  the  school  of 
Toledo,  82. 

Altars,  used  by  magicians,  19. 

Ampelius,  wonders  of  the  world  de- 
scribed by,  94. 

Amulets,  mentioned  by  Pliny,  95. 

Anchises,  funeral  of,  and  its  symbolism, 
71. 

Angilbert,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Anician  family,  Proba  Faltonia  a  mem- 
ber of  the,  170. 

Annseus  Cornutus,  study  of  Virgil  by, 
43. 

Antonines,  use  of  the  .S;neid  by  the,  for 
divination,  44. 

Apocalypsis  Golife,  the  flies  of  Virgil 
mentioned  in  the,  105;  error  of  a  trans- 
lator of  the,  201. 

Apollo,  temple  of,  and  its  symbolism,  72. 

ApoUonius  oi  Tyana,  a  bronze  of  magi- 
cal powers  in  Constantinople  attrib- 
uted to,  96. 

Apuleius,  Herbarium  of  Chiron  credited 
to,  80;  magic  divided  into  good  and  bad 
by,  19;  views  of,  on  mathematicians; 
defence  from  the  charge  of  magic,  19; 
superstitions  of  classic  times  men- 
tioned bv,  18;  matters  mentioned  by, 


240 


INDEX 


also  incorporated  in  the  Virsilian  leg- 
ends, 19;  argunientof,  for  the  existence 
of  an  aerial  order  of  beings,  22;  more 
archaic  writers  preferred  ti>  Virgil  by, 
43;  language  of,  complicated  by  diverse 
foreign  influences,  44. 

Arabians,  classical  age  of  the,  17;  not 
the  teachers  of  Europe  in  romance,  16; 
parallel  between  the  history  of  the, 
and  that  of  Europeans,  17 

Arator,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  51. 

Aratus,  proficiency  in  medicine  attrib- 
uted to,  85. 

Argyrus,  inextinguishable  lamp  in  the 
temple  at,  94. 

Aristarchus,  study  of  Virgil  by,  43. 

Aristotle,  said  to  have  been  an  alchem- 
ist, 90;  Solomon's  book  of  magic  dis- 
covered by,  83;  anecdote  of,  related  by 
Hawes,  200;  mathematics  used  for  a 
magical  purpose  condemned  by,  21. 

Arma,  emblematic  meaning  of,  accord- 
ing to  Fulgentius,  71. 

Arnold  Immessen,  the  fourth  eclogue 
quoted  in  a  mystery  by,  179. 

Ars  magica,  term  used  by  Conrad  of 
Querfurt  to  describe  Virgil's  supposed 
skill,  20. 

Ars  mathematica,  term  used  by  Gervase, 
21. 

Ars  notoria,  described  as  a  holy  science, 
83;  experiment  of  Gervase  with  a  book 
of  the,  5:  Virgil's  book  on  the,  found 
at  Naples,  78;  meaning  of  the  term,  79. 

Arte  mathematica,  term  used  by  Gervase 
to  define  Virgil's  skill,  1U2. 

Asconius  Pedianus,  allegorical  tradition 
dating  from  the  time  of,  64. 

Asper,  commentary  on  Virgil  by,  43 

Athens,  Virgil's  journey  to,  13. 

Augustine,  affection  of,  for  the  poems  of 
Virgil,  164;  views  of,  on  the  fourth 
eclogue,  165;  Hermes  Trismegistus 
quoted  by,  114. 

Augustus,  vision  of,  183;  reply  of  Virgil 
to,  60. 

Aulus  Gellius,  description  of  Virgil's 
method  of  composition  by,  fiO;  auto- 
graphs of  Virgil  extant  in  the  time  of, 
study  of  Virgil  by,  43;  comment  of,  on 
the  line,  Ora  jugo,  etc.,  86. 

Auson  ia,  allegorical  meaning  of  ^neas's 
journey  to,  72. 

Ausonius,  proficiency  in  medicine  attrib- 
uted to,  85;  cento  composed  by,  169. 

Avella,  village  near  which  Virgil  had  a 
country  place,  86. 

Averrhoes,  said  to  have  been  a  contem- 
porary of  Virgil  at  Codova,  82. 

Avicenna,  Virgil  a  contemporary  of,  at 
Cordova,  82. 

Avitus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  51. 

Bacchus,  fall  of  a  temple  sacred  to,  182. 

Bacon,  Roger,  double  meaning  of  the 
word  mathematics  explained  by,  21; 
compared  to  Virsjil,  7;  opinion  of,  con- 
cerning magnifying  glasses,  118. 


Baise,  Virgil's  legendary  relation  with 

the  baths  of,  88. 
Baldricus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Baleares,  many  rabbits  found  on  the,  92. 
Barclay,  comment  on  Virgil  in  the  ec- 
logues of.  49. 
Bartholomt'o  Caracciolo,  accountof  Vir- 
gil given  bv.  80. 
Basket,  legend  of  the,  137. 
Bayle,  legends  of  Virgil  discredited  by, 

205. 
Beaumont,  the  fourth  eclogue  explained 

by,  208. 
Beckford,  imagination  of,  affected  by  the 

legends  of  Virgil,  223-22-5. 
Bede,  high  opinion  of  Virgil  expressed 

by,  47;  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52;  treatise    on    the   wonders   of    the 

world  attributed  to,  119. 
Benjamin  of  Tudela,  description  of  the 

Pharos  of  Alexandria  by,  123. 
Bernard,  the  carnal-minded  woman  de- 
scribed by,  135. 
Bernard  of  "Chartres,  the  MneiA  allegor- 

ically  interpreted  by,  74. 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  noxious  creatures 

banished  by,  96. 
Bernard  of  Cluny,  cited  as  an  imitator  of 

Virgil,  52. 
Berth arius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 
Berthold,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Birds,  ships  guided  by,  of  good  omen, 

27;  of  ill  omen,  28. 
Boccaccio,  legends  of  Virgil  mentioned 

by,  193. 
Bochas,  allusion  to  the  Salvatio  Romee, 

in,  199. 
Boethius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

51;  the  golden  age  mourned  by.  160. 
Boniface,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Book,  Virgil's  devils  imprisoned  in  a,  29. 
Bottle,  Virgil's  devil  imprisoned  in  a,  29. 
Briefe  in  die  Heimath,  modern  traditions 

about  the  magician  Virgil  related  in, 

196. 
Britain,  political  situation  of,  favorable 

to  the  preservation  of  certain  legends, 

116. 
Britain,  elephants  used  by  the  Romans 

in,  117. 
Bronze  fly,  Virgil's  supposed  figure  of, 

known  at  an  early  date,  105. 
Brundisinm,  scene  of  Virgil's  death,  13. 
Bunyan,  the  allegory  of,  alluded  to,  73. 
Byzantium,   statues  from  Rome  taken 

to,  122. 

Cacus,  defeat  of,  by  Hercules,  73. 
Caesar,  mediaeval  legends  related  of,  119; 

Virgil  rewarded  with  gold  from  the 

treasury  of,  63. 
Cailhava,  eflTorts  of,  to  discover  treasure 

under  th«  church  of  St.  Denis,  124. 
Cajeta,  death  of,  72. 


INDEX 


241 


Calabria,  described  as  the  property  of 
Virgil,  63. 

Caligula,  whimsical  condemnation  of 
Virgil's  poems  by,  43. 

Cambuscan,  allusion  to  the  Salvatio 
Romse  in  tale  of,  198. 

Candidus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Caracciolo,  account  of  Virgil's  garden 
bv,  SS;  Virgil's  book  of  magic  men- 
tioned by,  811;  four  prophetic  heads 
made  by  Virgil  according  to,  110; 
doubts  of,  concerning  the  Virgilian 
legends,  193;  destruction  of  the  Saler- 
nian  physicians  reported  by,  89. 

Cardan,  Virgil's  book  of  magic  compared 
to  the  supposititious  work  of,  81. 

Castle,  of  the  enchanted  egg,  of  the  sea, 
106. 

Cathedral,  Virgil  married  by  the  arch- 
bishop in  a,  154. 

Cecina  Albinus,  Virgil's  use  of  words 
discussed  by,  69. 

Celsus,  Christians  corrupting  the  sibyl- 
line poems  condemned  by,  157;  oracles 
cited  bv,  114. 

Celestinus,  bull  of,  concerning  the  mon- 
astery on  Mt.  Virgil,  86. 

Centos,  the  makirg  of,  from  Virgil's 
works,  169. 

Charles  I.,  use  of  the  Sortes  Virgilianao 
by,  205. 

Charon  typical  of  time,  72. 

Charlemagne,  descent  of,  traced  from 
.(Eneas,  50. 

Chassanee.  mice  defended  by,  in  the 
diocese  of  Autun,  96. 

Chaucer,  the  Salvatio  Romse  alluded  to 
by,  199 

Chiron,  book  of  medicine  attributed  to, 
80. 

Christian,  heathen  prejudices  [existent 
in  the  mind  of  the,  157. 

Christianity,  eflfect  of,  on  pagan  beliefs, 
23. 

Churches,  legends  of  Virgil  the  lover 
used  as  themes  for  paintings  in  the, 
137. 

Cicadas,  destroyed  by  an  image,  109. 

Cicero,  regard  for  the  sibyl  deprecated 
by,  164;  magical  mathematics  con- 
demned by,  21;  legendary  anecdote  of, 
62. 

Cino  de  Pistoia,  legends  of  Virgil  men- 
tioned by,  193. 

Ciris,  characteristics  of  the,  169. 

Classics,  superstltiously  regarded  by 
mediaeval  writers,  90. 

Claudian,  the  golden  age  proclaimed  by, 
159 

Claudius  Albinus,  use  of  the  Sortes  Vir- 
gilianse  by,  44. 

Cleomades,  account  of  two  castles  on 
eggs  in  the,  106;  the  Salvatio  Romse 
ascribed  to  Virgil  in  the,  124;  Virgil's 
medical  baths  mentioned  in  the,  89. 

Columbanus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 


Coleridge,  merits  of  the  .SIneid  depre- 
ciated by,  207. 

Comparetti,  analysis  of  the  work  of,  22S- 
230;  no  traces  of  the  Virgilian  legends 
found  in  Naples  by,  198;  criticism  of 
the  German  translation  of,  3. 

Confessio  Amantis,  allusion  to  the  ad- 
venture of  the  basket  in  the,  200. 

Coniugton,  translation  of  the  .^neid  by, 
172. 

Conrad,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Conrad  of  Querfurt.  collection  of  the 
Virgilian  legends  by,  98-99;  blunders 
of,  in  classical  geography,  91 ;  allusion 
of,  to  magic  art,  12;  use  by,  of  the  term 
ars  magica,  20;  allusion  of,  to  the  baths 
at  Baise,  88. 

Constantinus,  Virgil  attacked  by  the 
author  of,  206. 

Corniflcius,  a  supposed  critic  of  Virgil, 
60. 

Cosma,  story  of  the  Salvatio  Romse  re- 
lated by,  119. 

Cowley,  use  of  the  Sortes  Virgilianse  by, 
205. 

Cowper,  angrv  response  of,  to  strictures 
on  Virgil,  207. 

Crassus,  destruction  of  the  Salvatio 
Romse  permitted  by,  124;  mentioned 
in  medijeval  legend,  119. 

Crete,  fatal  to  noxious  animals,  92. 

Cronica  di  Partenope,  catalogue  of  Vir- 
gilian wonders  in  the,  109;  character 
of  the,  as  a  legendary  history  of  Na- 
ples, 80 

Cuckoo,  folk-lore  concerning  the,  92. 

Culex,  the  origin  of,  as  related  by  Neck- 
am  61 

Cumse  folk-lore  of,  possibly  the  source 
of  the  fourth  eclogue,  158. 

Cyclops  symbolism  of  the,  71. 

Cytherius,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85 

Dante,  place  in  the  Inferno  accorded  to 
Virgil  by,  175  allegorical  interpre- 
tation of  Virgil  and  Lucan  by,  75. 

Dardanus,  the  magician,  book  of,  found 
in  his  tomb  by  Democritus,  94. 

David,  mediaeval  humor  at  the  expense 
of,  138 

Davies,  Naude's  work  translated  by,  226. 

Defremery,  Persian  tale  translated  by, 
138. 

De  Laudibus  Divinse  Sapientise,  poem  of 
Neckam,  alluded  to,  121. 

Democrates,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85. 

Demonis  arte,  classic  poems  inspired  by, 
55. 

Demonism,  defiant  character  of  Teuton- 
ic, 8. 

Demonology,  contrasted  in  European 
and  Arabian  tales,  18. 

De  Naturis  Rerum,  Neckam's  reasoning 
in,  21. 

De  Necromancia,  title  given  to  Virgil's 
book  of  magic  by  Caracciolo,  81. 


242 


INDEX 


Devil,  mediaeval  conception  of  che,  35; 
in  the  story  of  Faust,  36. 

Devils,  eighty  thousand,  found  in  one 
receptacle  by  Virgil,  29;  as  road  build- 
ers, 30;  of  Virgil  mentioned  by  Ali- 
praiido,  34 ;  manifest  types  of  the  forces 
of  nature,  35;  a  servile  race,  36. 

Diceus,  character  iu  the  romance  of 
Polexander,  27. 

Dido,  passion  of,  for  ^Uneas,  and  what  it 
symbolized  71;  Virgil's  portrayal  of, 
135. 

Diego  de  Valencia,  legend  of  Virgil  re- 
lated by,  IT'J. 

Dies  Irse,  allusion  to  the  sibyl  in  the, 
177. 

Divination,  gradual  decay  of,  as  a 
science,  16  view  taken  of,  in  the  middle 
ages,  16;  d  speudeut  on  demons,  19. 

Doesborcke,  progress  of  science  from  the 
time  of  Ge.-vase  to  that  of,  129;  Virgil's 
statues  described  by,  128. 

Dolopathos,  contempt  for  woman  shown 
in  the,  140-143;  tale  from  the  Gospel  of 
the  Infancy  repeated  in  the,  U*; 
Christian  missionary  described  in  the, 
18;  the  fourth  eclogue  cited  \\\  the,  182; 
origin  of  the  romance  of,  50-57,  232; 
analysis  of  the,  58,  233-  Virgi'  sfigure  in 
the,  12;  Virgil's  repute  as  si  poet  in  the, 
13;  publication  of  the,  in  Paris,  2. 

Domnizo,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52-  places  in  Mantua  associated  with 
Virgil's  name  mentioned  by,  193. 

Douatus,    imitated    by    the    mediaeval 

frammarians,  53;  on  Virgil's  scientific 
nowledge,  110-llJ;  order  of  Virgil's 
works  as  understood  by,  65;  virtues  (pf 
the  perfect  orator  attributed  to  Virgil 
by,  66. 
Donee  virgo  peperit,  words  ascribed  to  a 

pagan  oraile,  182. 
Drepauius  Floras,  cited  as  an  imitator 
of  Virgil,  52. 

Ebusus,  no  serpents  found  in  the  island 

of,  92. 
Eclogues,  contemplative  life  symbolized 

bv  the,  74. 
Ekkehard  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Enenkel,  Weltbuch  of,  24;  legend  of  Vir- 
gil expanded  by,  139. 
Engelmoldus,  cited  us  an  imitator   of 

Virgil,  52. 
Ennaios,  Greek  term  used  by  John  of 

Salisbury,  74. 
Enuodius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

51. 
Eolus,  symbolism  of,  71. 
Epilepsy,  attributed  to  magic  craft,  19. 
Epirus,  bridge  in,  attributed  to  Medea, 

94. 
Epithalamium.of  Ausonius,  170. 
Ermoldus,  cited  as  au  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Erytheia,  voyage  of  Hercules  in  a  scy- 

phus  to  the  island  of,  146. 


Est  organum  Satani,  words  used  by  St. 
Bernard,  136. 

Estronomie,  term  used  in  the  Dolo- 
pathos, 76. 

Ethelwolf,  cited  as  an  imitatorof  Virgil, 
52. 

Eudemus,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85. 

Eudocia,  cento  composed  by,  171. 

Eusebius,  address  of  Cou'stantine  re- 
ported by,  163;  Virgil's  knowledge  of 
oratory  discussed  by,  69. 

Eustathius,  Virgil's  knowledge  of  astrol- 
ogy discussed  by,  69. 

Evaudcr,  type  of  a  good  counsellor,  73. 

Evangelus,  Virgil  condemned  by,  67. 

Evrard  of  Bethune,  commentof,  on  Vir- 
gil, 49. 

Farduelph,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vlr- 

Sil,  52. 
Faust,  overshadowing  fame  of,  7-8;  sculp- 

tnr.-d  head  that  talked  made  by,  96. 
Febillrt,  Virgil's  legendary  mistress,  147. 
Ferreaii  Gate,  serpents  confined  under 

the,  99. 
Feudal  rank  in  the  schools,  58. 
Flamiuius  Vafca,  anecdote  of  atreasure 

hunter  told  by,  VIS. 
Flavian,  Virgil's  pontifical  learning  dis- 
cussed by,  68. 
Flavins  Cresconius  Corippus,  cited  as  an 

imitatorof  Virgil.  52. 
Flies,  freedom  from,  of  a  certain  church 

refectory,  100. 
Florence,    magical    mirror    of     Virgil 

shown  in,  205. 
Fly-catcher,  statue  of  the,  at  the  Olympic 

games,  93. 
Fly,  of  bronze,  11. 
Folklore,  origin  of,  8. 
Fortunate     Isles,    Romans     urged     by 

Horace  to  flee  to  the,  158. 
Fourth-  eclogue,  paraphrase  in  Greek, 

160-163. 
French,  beliefs  recorded  by  Pliny  still 

held  by  the,  62. 
Friar  Bacon,  sculptured  head  that  talked 

made  by,  97. 
Fridegode,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 
Frodoardus,  52. 
Fronto,  Virgil  slighted  by,  43. 
Froumund,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 
Fnlbert,  52. 
Fulcherius,  52. 
Fulgentins,  Virgilian  allegory  of,  long 

popular,  73;  nature  of  this  allegory,  70; 

title  of  the  book  of.  69. 
Furius  Albinus,  Virgil's  familiarity  with 

the  older  Latin  writers  discussed  by, 

69. 

Galata,  soil  of,  fatal  to  scorpions,  53. 
Galen,  music  in  the  practice  of,  85. 
Gallus,  efforts  of,  in  behalf  of  Virgil,  84. 


INDEX 


243 


Garden  of  Virgil  on  the  slope  of  Monte 
Vergine,  101. 

Garin,  romance  of,  1&4. 

Gaufrid  Malaterrae,  cited  as  an  imitator 
of  Virgil,  52. 

Gaulos,  soil  of,  fatal  to  scorpions,  93. 

Geber,  said  to  have  been  an  alchemist, 
90. 

Gelasius,  works  of  Sedulius  and  Proba 
relegated  to  the  apocrypha  by,  175. 

GelHus,  manuscripts  in  Virgil's  own 
hand  extant  in  the  time  of,  59. 

Geometry,  superstitious  regard  for,  21; 
skill  in,  attributed  to  Virgil,  192. 

Georgics,  sensuous  life  symbolized  by 
the,  64. 

Gerbert,  bronze  head  that  talked  made 
by,  legends  of,  107. 

Germans,  superstitious  regard  of  the, 
forthe  sea,  2C;belief  of.  inaerial beings, 
23;  traditional  respect  for  Virgil  lacking 
among  the.  80 

Gervase    use  of  technical  terms  by,  21 
allusion  of,  to    mathematic   arts,  12 
character  of  the  book  written   by,  12 
experiment  of,  with  a  book  on  the  ars 
notoria,  5;  account  of    the  Virgiliau 
wonders    by,   101-104;   apology  of,  for 
statements  hard   to   believe,  100;  allu- 
sion of,  to  the  baths   at  Baiae,  8S;  the 
garden  of  Virgil  placed  on  the  Mons 
Virginum  by,  88;    legend  of  a  learned 
Englishman   told     by,  77-78;    Virgil's 
book  of  magic  tested  by,  89. 

Gesta  Romanorum,  use  of  Virgil's  name 
in  the,  109;  influence  of  the  Saxons  up- 
on the,  llii;  vision  of  Augustus  alluded 
to  in  the,  183;  the  fourth  eclogue  quoted 
in  the,  175;  Alexander  Neckam  quoted 
by,  122. 

Gidino,  legends  of  Virgil  mentioned  by, 
193. 

Gilbert,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Giordano,  that  Virgil  was  consul  at 
Naples  asserted  by,  87. 

Godwin,  allusion  of,  to  the  prophetic  re- 
pute of  Virgil,  189. 

Goethe,  comparison  of.  with  Virgil,  45. 

Goffried,  noxious  creatures  banished  by, 
96. 

Golden  Age,  predicted,  in  the  sibylline 
books,  157. 

Golden  Key.-*  1o  universal  learning,  82. 

Golias,  Virgil's  fly  mentioned  in  the  vis- 
ion of,  105. 

Gordiani,  use  of  the  Sortes  Virgilianse 
by  the,  44. 

Gospel  of  the  Infancy  of  Jesus,  animated 
statues  described  in  the,  114. 

Gottschalk,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 

Gower,  legend  of  the  Salvatio  Romre 
told  bv,  199;  allusion  of,  to  the  adven- 
ture of"  the  basket,  200. 

GrMcnraarians,  Virgil  cited  often  by  the, 
5'i;  precedence  of,  ia  the  early  times 
of  the  empire,  42. 


Gray,  distant  analogy  of  the  cento  to  the 

poems  of,  170. 
Greeks,    disbelief  of,  in    the  virtue  of 

woman,    142;    discoveries    of   the,    in 

physics,  123. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  vermin  banished  from 

Paris  by,  96. 
Grifen,  Virgil  led  to  shipwreck  by,  28. 

Hades,  descent  into,  typical  of  philo- 
sophical investigation,  72. 

Hadrian,  use  of  the  Sortes  Virgilianaa 
by,  44. 

Haroot,  one  of  the  Arabian  inventors  of 
magic,  32. 

Haut  selve,  name  of  the  monastery  in 
Lorraine  where  the  Dolopathos  was 
written,  57. 

Hawes,  the  adventure  of  the  basket  re- 
lated by,  200-201. 

Hayley,  Warburton's  treatment  of  Vir- 
gil condemned  by,  217. 

Helinand,  allusionof,  to  the  medicinal 
baths  at  Baise,  8S;  Virgilian  legends 
collected  by,  12;  the  chronicle  of,  87. 

Heliodnrus,  ruagic  ship  made  by,  146- 
147;  legends  of  Virgil  also  told"  of,  98, 
138. 

Helpidius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 51. 

Hemmerlin,  Virgil's  capture  of  Solo- 
mon's book  of  magic  related  by,  31. 

Henry  the  Poor,  comparison  of  Virgil 
and  Lucan  bj',  47-18. 

Heraclitus,  comment  of,  on  the  ancient 
heathen  prophetic  poems,  157. 

Herbers,  translation  of  the  Dolopathos 
into  French  verse  by,  57;  proficiency  in 
astrology  attributed  to  Virgil  by,  76. 

Herbert  of  Norwich,  warned  in  a  dream 
not  to  read  Virgil,  53. 

Hercules,  temple  of,  at  Rome,  avoided 
by  flies  and  doss,  93;  voyage  of,  in  a 
scyphns,  146 ;  victory  of ,  over  Cacus,  73; 
mediaeval  humor  at  the  expense  of, 
138. 

Hermannus  Gigas,  miracles  attending 
the  birth  of  Christ  related  by,  182. 

Hermes  Trismegistus,  animated  statues 
described  bv,  114. 

Hervis,  exploits  of,  the  theme  of 
romance,  184. 

Hesiod,  proficiency  in  medicine  attrib- 
uted to,  85. 

Heyne,  criticism  of,  on  the  monastic 
copies  of  Virgil,  51;  resentment  of, 
toward  the  monks,  110. 

Hie  est  arcus  Coeli,  words  heard  by 
Csesar,lS3. 

Hilarius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Hilkiah  Bradford,  characteristics  of,  in 
the  novel  of  Maudeville.  189. 

Hippocrates,  prophecv  of  the  birth  of 
Christ  interpreted  by,  185;  mediaeval 
humor  at  the  expense  of,  138. 

Historia  Septem  Sapientium,  origin  of, 
57. 


244 


INDEX 


History  of  Prince  Erastus,  Virgil's  name 
omitted  from  the,  195. 

History  of  Spanish  Literature,  ballad 
of  Virgil  cited  in,  139. 

Holy  Virgin  Mary,  name  given  to  the 
monastery  on  Mt.  Virgil,  86. 

Homer,  works  of,  ransacked  in  the  in- 
terest of  various  sciences;  proficiency 
in  medicine  attributed  to,  85. 

Homunculus,  Fulgentius  so  called  by 
the  spectre  of  Virgil,  70. 

Honorius,  poem  of  Proba  dedicated  to, 
170. 

Honorius  Scholasticus,  cited  as  an  imi- 
tator of  Virgil,  51. 

Horace,  the  subject  of  a  myth,  15;  poeti- 
cal tribute  of,  to  Virgil,  14. 

Iginus,'  study  of  Virgil  by,  43. 

Inaccessible  island,  the,  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  27. 

Ingelramus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 

lopas,  song  of,  and  its  symbolism,  71. 

Isidore,  library  of,  46. 

Itala,  ancient  Version  of  the  Scriptures 
so  called,  171. 

Italy,  the  shrew-mouse  could  not  cross  a 
wagon  track  in,  93;  fame  of  the  magi- 
cian Heliodorus  in,  98;  Virgilian  le- 
gends ignored  by  the  early  writers  of, 
98;  unwillingness,  in  the  writers  of,  to 
attribute  magic  to  Virgil,  191;  late  in 
taking  up  the  Virgilian  tales,  4;  clear 
memory  retained  of  the  historic  Vir- 
gil, 35. 

Jacorbus,  a  serpent  so  called  in  the  En- 
glish Gesta,  176. 

Jehan,  the  Dolopathos  written  in  Latin 
by,  57,  2:>0-238. 

Jerome,  the  pseudo-phrophetical  centos 
condemned  by,  174;  the  Scriptures 
translated  by,' 171;  prophetic  powers 
attributed  to  virginity  by,  168;  the 
jEneid  called  immortal  by,  49. 

Jews,  early  transfer  of  oriental  tales  to 
Europe  and  to  the  Saracens  by,  32. 

John  ot  Salisbury,  story  of  a  search  for 
Virgil's  relics  told  by,  77;  allegorical 
interpretation  of  tlie  ..Eneid  by,  74; 
the  Polycraticus  of,  referred  to,  2;  the 
bronze 'fly  of  Virgil  described  by,  11; 
storv  ot  Virgil's  fly  and  Marcellus  told 
by,  105. 

John  the  Evangelist,  said  to  have  been 
an  alchemist,  90. 

Jotsaldus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Juvenal,  lady  who  lectured  on  Virgil 
mentioned  by,  42. 

Juan  Ruiz  de  Hita,  discourse  of,  on  the 
sin  of  luxury,  139. 

Julius  Caesar,  intrigue  between  Virgil 
and  the  daughter  of,  148;  a  great  glass 
used  bv,  to  inspect  the  island  of  Brit- 
ain, 119. 


Juno,  symbolism  of,  71. 
Juturna,  typical  of  obstinacy,  73. 

Knittelius.  comment  of,  on  the  proem  to 
the  ^Eneid,  205. 

Korah,  said  to  have  been  an  alchemist, 
90. 

Krehbiel,  Heinrich  von  Muglin  men- 
tioned by,  26. 

Lactantius,  opinion  of,  concerning  the 
fourth  eclogue,  164. 

La  Fleur  des  Histoires,  Virgil's  statues 
mentioned  in,  127. 

Lamps  used  by  magicians,  19. 

Land  of  Labor,  overlooked  by  Vesuvius, 
101. 

Lane,  views  of,  on  the  date  of  the  Arab- 
ian Nignts,  31. 

Latin,  decline  of,  after  the  Augustan 
age,  41 ;  thought  to  be  of  magical  po- 
tency, 23;  still  a  living  language  in  the 
twelfth  century.  55. 

Latinity  in  tlie  middle  ages  aflfected  by 
the  style  of  Virgil,  51. 

Laurentius  of  Verona,  cited  as  an  imi- 
tator of  Virgil,  52. 

Lavinia,  Virsril's  portrayal  of,  135;  typi- 
cal of  the  weariness  of  old  age,  73. 

Learned,  Virgil  called  the,  156. 

Lecce,  allusion  to  Virgil  in  a  song  sung 
at,  198. 

Leech  of  bronze,  10. 

Leo  Thaumaturge,  account  of  Helio- 
dorus in  the  life  of,  138. 

Le  Loyer,  legends  of  Virgil  credited  by, 
205. 

Liebrecht,  work  of,  on  Gervase,  2. 

Life,  psychological  categories  of,  74. 

L'Image  du  Monde,  French  romance  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  79;  indebted- 
ness of,  to  the  Dolopathos,  Sd.  the  le- 
gend of  Virsil  and  St.  Paul  mentioned 
in,  180;  Virgil  s  garden  mentioned  in,  88. 

Limoges,  Latiu  mystery  performed  at, 
178. 

Linceus,  a  character  in  the  romance  of 
Polexander,  28. 

Literary  anecdote,  legendary  tendency 
of,  in  the  case  of  Virgil,  59. 

Literature,  profane,  traversed  in  search 
of  passages  to  illustrate  the  Scriptures, 
157;  mediaeval,'  permeated  with  dis- 
trust of  women,  140;  the  four  mean- 
ings of,  74. 

Lucan,  Dante's  allegorical  interpretation 
of,  75. 

Lucimien,  pupil  under  Virgil  at  Rome, 
57;  converted  to  the  Christian  faith, 
181;  practice  of  divination  by,  76;  ad- 
venture of,  with  his  stepmother.  76. 

Lucius,  herb  of,  in  the  garden  of  Virgil, 
98. 

Luitprandus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 

Lydgate,  allusion  to  the  Salvatio  Romse, 
199. 


INDEX 


245 


Ly  Myreur  des  Histors,  collection  of  Vir- 
gilian  legends  in,  186-188;  Virgil's  stat- 
ues mentioned  in,  127. 

Macrobius,  Virgil's  infinite  learning 
shown  by,  20;  views  of,  restored  at  the 
renaissance,  195;  comment  of.  on  the 
use  of  the  same  words  to  describe 
ships  and  drinking  vessels,  146;  the 
Saturnalia  of,  66. 

Macro-miero-eosmical  oceans,  a  term 
applied  to  pretended  works  of  science. 
85. 

Magic,  reluctantly  spoken  of  in  a  good 
sense,  20;  inhabitants  of  certain  coun- 
tries specially  skillful  in,  19;  Pliny's 
argument  against,  19;  tales  of,  univer- 
sal, 4;  scientific  and  literary  use  of,  5; 
book  of,  why  ascribed  to  Virgil,  75. 

Magnse  spes  altera  Romse,  remark  attrib- 
uted to  Cicero,  62. 

Magnetberg,  term  used  in  mediseval 
German  fiction,  25-. 

Mahons,  Mohammed  so  called  in  ro- 
mance, 184. 

Malchus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Maleflcium,  synonym  for  unholy  mathe- 
matics, 21. 

Mambrun,  Virgil's  poems  attacked  by, 
206. 

Mandeville,  prophetic  repute  of  Virgil 
in  the  novel,  189. 

Mansel,  statues  of  Virgil  mentioned  by, 
127. 

Mantike,  synonym  for  unholy  mathe- 
matics, 21. 

Mantua,  Virgil's  inheritance  near,  13; 
coins  of,  impressed  with  the  i)ortrait 
of  Virgil,  194;  the  tomb  of  Virgil  men- 
tioned in  a  hymn  to  St.  Paul  sung  in, 
180. 

Mapes,  satirical  poems  attributed  to, 
201. 

Marcellus,  renowned  in  the  middle  ages 
as  Virgil's  pupil,  59;  secrets  of  the 
world  of  spirits  imparted  by  Virgil  to, 
197;  the  bronze  fly  cbnsen  by,  105. 

Marcus,  cited  as  an"  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Marlowe,  allusion  of,  to  the  tomb  of  Vir- 
gil, 202. 

Maro  stung  by  a  gnat,  61. 

Maroot,  one  of  the  inventors  of  Arabian 
magic,  32. 

Martial,  Virgil  extravagantly  praised  by, 
41. 

Mary  the  Virgin,  prayer  to,  by  the  sail- 
ors of  Virgil,  28. 

Mathematics,  derivation  of,  by  Roger 
Bacon,  21. 

Mavortus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
51. 

Mecsenas,  questions  put  to  Virgil  by,  60. 

Medea,  tragedy  on  the  story  of,  com- 
posed by  Ovidius  Geta,  169. 

Medipeval"  Latin  poets  on  Virgil,  47. 

Mendacia  Virgilii,  the  phrase  of  Alcuin's 
biographer,  55. 


Merehiolana,  Virgil's  garden  near  the 

village  of,  88. 
Mercury,  the  type  of  intellectual  power, 

Merlin,  name  of,  substituted  for  that  of 
Virgil,  202;  allusion  to  the  island  of, 
133. 

Messapus,  typical  of  unreason,  73. 

Mestre  Virgilo,  in  the  Dolopathos,  59. 

Mestrie,  term  used  by  Herbers  to  define 
Virgil's  priority  over  other  teachers, 
59. 

Metiscus,  typical  of  drunkenness,  73. 

Mczentius,  typical  of  impiety,  73. 

Middle  Ages,  not  times  of  ignorance,  5; 
magic  lore  of,  similar  to  that  of  Apu- 
leius,  19. 

Milo,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Mirabilia  Urbis  Komaj,  the  mouth  of 
truth  described  in  the,  145;  vision  of 
Augustus  alluded  to  in  the,  183;  the 
Salvatio  Romse  alluded  to  in  the.  122. 

Mirrors,  instrumentsof  supernatural  po- 
tency, 19:  tales  of,  in  the  French  ro- 
mances, 123. 

Misenus,  typical  of  vainglory,  72. 

Mohammed  II.,  bronze  broken  by,  in 
Constantinople,  96. 

Mons  Virgilii,  Virgilianus,  Virginis, 
Virginum,  names  of  Mount  Virgil  or 
Monte  Vergine,  86. 

Montaiglon,  opinion  of,  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  Dolopathos.  57. 

Monte  Barbaro,  the  book  of  Virgil  found 
in  the.  SO. 

Monte  Vergine,  modern  name  of  Mount 
Virgil,  86. 

Moors,  specious  reputation  of ,  in  science, 
82. 

Moses,  said  to  have  been  an  alchemist. 
90. 

Moses  Bergomensis,  cited  as  an  imitator 
of  Virgil,  52. 

Mount  Olympus,  wolves  unable  to  live 
upon,  92 

Mount  Virgil,  suggestiveness  of  the 
name,  to  western  romancers,  87. 

Mouth  of  truth,  said  to  have  belonged  to 
a  bronze  serpent,  150;  legend  of  the  de- 
struction of  the,  145. 

Muglin,  Heinrich  von,  Virgil  converted 
into  a  Venetian  ship  captain  by,  26. 

Musa,  word  used  by  Henry  the  Poor  to 
characterize  Virgil's  verse  48. 

MusaBUS,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85. 

Mysteries,  Virgil  supposed  to  have  dis- 
closed the  secrets  of  the  ancient,  211. 

Naples,  Virgil's  residence  in,  13;  folk- 
lore of,  inadequate  to  aceouut  for  the 
Virgilian  tales,  4;  Virgilian  wonders 
credited  to,  10;  escape  of  Virgil  from 
Rome  to,  34;  Virgil  said  to  have  found- 
ed a  school  of  magi<;  in,  59;  captured 
by  the  armies  of  Henry  VI.,  91;  ac- 
count of,  in  the  Cronica  di  Partenope, 
80;  modern  traditions  concerning  Vir- 
gil found  in,  166;  a  feof  of  Virgil,  63; 


246 


INDEX 


bones  of  Virgil  and  book  of  magic 
found  in,  78;  palladium  of,  described 
by  Conrad,  98;  gate  of  good  and  ill- 
fortune  at,  102;  fragments  of  a  bronze 
horse  in  the  museum  of,  104;  legend 
of  in  L'lmagedu  Monde,  106;  founded 
on  eggs,  152;  golden  statue  in,  lOS. 

Napyll,  a  fanciful  word  used  by  Does- 
borcke,  152. 

Naude,  legends  of  Virgil  discredited  by, 
205. 

Nea,  no  rain  at  the  temple  of  Minerva 
in,  93:  miracle  in,  92. 

Neapolitans,  respect  of  the,  for  the 
memory  of  Virgil,  78;  name  of  Virgil 
anciently  misunderstood  by  the,  87. 

Neckam,  never  in  Italy,  3:  acquainted 
with  Virgil's  renown" as  a  poet,  13;  ac- 
count of  Virgil's  garden  by,  87;  Roger 
Bacon's  criticism  on,  121;  wooden 
statues  mentioned  by,  123;  catalogue 
of  the  VirKilian  wonders  by,  10. 

Nero,  mention  of,  in  mediaeval  legend, 
119. 

Nertleship,  theory  of,  concerning  the 
meaning  of  the  fourth  eclogue,  lfJ5. 

Nicander,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85. 

Nisreilus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
52. 

Nigromanee,  form  of  the  word  necro- 
mancy, used  by  Iioesborcke,  34;  used 
by  Herbers  to  describe  Virgil's  book 
on  the  seven  arts,  77. 

Noah,  said  to  have  been  an  alchemist, 
90. 

Noirons  li  Arabis,  fantastic  name  for 
Nero  in  a  French  romance,  1S4. 

Nola,  why  omitted  from  the  line,  ora 
jugo,  etc.,  86. 

Nonius,  number  of  Virgilian  citations 
by,  168. 

Norman  Latinists,  first  to  relate  magical 
tales  of  Virgil,  4,  7. 

Notker  Balbulus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of 
Virgil,  52. 

Nygromancy,  form  of  the  word  necro- 
mancy, used  by  Doesborcke,  34. 

Octavian,  desire  of,  to  know  who  his 
father  was,  111;  kindness  of,  to  Virgil, 
84;  Virgil  rewarded  by,  60.  62;  witticism 
of,  concerning  Virgil  and  Horace,  14. 

Octavius,  figure  of,  in  an  English  chap 
book,  129. 

Odo,  warned  bv  a  dream  not  to  read  Vir- 
gil, 54. 

Olive,  folk-lore  concerning  the,  92. 

Olympiodorus,  statue  near  Mt.  ^tna 
mentioned  by,  94. 

Olympiodorus,"  the  monk,  contempt  of, 
for  marriage,  136. 

Orientius,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 
51. 

Origen,  Pagans  and  Jews  reproached  by, 
157;  heathen  oracles  denounced  by, 
114. 


Orpheus,  proficiency  in  medicine  attrib. 

uted  to,  85. 
Ossa  quam  sensum,  term  used  by  John 

of  Salisbury,  77. 

Osbert  of  We"stminster,  cited  as  an  imi- 
tator of  Virgil,  52. 

Otia  Imperialia,  wonders  related  in  the. 
100.  • 

Otto  IV.,  Gervase's  book  dedicated  to,  12. 

Outremeuse,  Virgil's  statues  described 
by,  127;  variation  of  the  storv  of  Virgil 
by,  147;  the  legends  of  Virgfl  systema- 
tized by,  187. 

Ovidius  Geta,  cento  in  the  form  of  a 
tragedy  composed  by,  169. 

Paganism,  common  opinion  among 
Christians  concerning,  113;  in  the  ro- 
mances a  species  of  magic;  pantheons 
of,  converted  into  collections  of  fiends, 
22.  ' 

Palinurus,  typical  of  hallucination,  72. 

Pallas,  tomb  of,  in  Rome,  120. 

Panyasis,  legend  of  Hercules  related 
by,  146. 

Papinius,  birthday  of  Lucan  celebrated 
hy,  41. 

Paphos,  no  rain  at  the  temple  of  Venus 
in,  93. 

Paracelsus,  the  legends  of  Virgil  cred- 
ited by,  20o;  a  sculptured  head  that 
talked  made  by,  97;  Virgil's  supposed 
book  of  magic  compared  to  the  works 

.    of,  81. 

Paris,  a  mirror  attribated  to  Virgil  for- 
merly kept  in,  205. 

Parnassian  graduses,  epitomes  for  studv 
so  called,  82. 

Parthenias,  nickname  given  to  Virgil  at 
Naples,  87. 

Pastime  of  Pleasure,  the  adventure  of 
the  oasket  related  in  the,  200. 

Patrick,  snakes  driven  from  Ireland  by. 
96. 

Paul,  phrase  of,  concerning  the  prince 
of  the  power  of  the  air,  21. 

Paulus,  Ausonius's  cento  dedicated  to. 
169. 

Paul  Warnefrid,  cited  as  an  imitator  of 
Virgil,  52. 

Pelias,  resemblance  of  the  legendary 
death  of  Virgil  to  that  of,  128. 

Perfect  in  Style,  Virgil  called  the,  156. 

Peter  the  Venerable,  cited  as  an  imitator 
of  Virgil,  52. 

Petrarch,  vision  of  Augustus  alluded  to 
by,  183. 

Pet"ronius,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85;  Virg"il  called  The  Ro- 
man by,  41. 

Pharos,  "surmounted  by  a  mirror,  123, 

Pharsalia,  Dante's  allegorical  explana- 
tion of  a  passage  in  the,  75. 

Pherecvdes,  legend  of  Hercules  related 
by,  146. 


INDEX 


247 


Phillppi,  Virgil's    sufferings  just  after 

the  battle  of,  13,  84. 
Philistus,  an  alleged  enemy  of  Virgil,  61. 
Philomelus,    coinpauiou  of    Virgil,   so 

calle<i,  80.  ^ 

Philonienus,  an    ancient  physician,  so 

called,  SO.  ■ 
Philosopher,  Virgil  called  the,  156. 
Philosophy,  devotion  to,  an  indication 

of  a  taste  for  magic,  19. 
Pinatclli,    Virgil's   wonders    shown    to 

Gervase  by,  103. 
Pinkerton,  attack  of,  on  the  memory  of 

Viraril,  207. 
Pius  1 V. ,  response  of ,  to  a  treasure  hunt- 
er, 125. 
Plato,    quoted    in    the    Dolopathos,    58; 
magical  mathematics  condemned  by, 
21. 
Platonism,  repeated  in  a  corrupt  form 

in  each  newly  converted  race,  22. 
Pliny,  magical  mathematicscondemned 
by,  21 ;  philosophy  of,  retrogressive,  95; 
figures  meutiomd  by,  which  might 
have  answered  to  VirKii's  statue,  over 
against  Vesuvius,  KM;  statuaries  who 
modelled  insects  mentioned  by,  105; 
apology  of,  lor  statements  hard  "to  be- 
lieve, 100;  wonders  related  by,  attrib- 
uted to  the  power  of  nature,  94;  opin- 
ions recorded  by,  which  throw  light 
on  the  Virgilian  "myth,  92;  Virgil's  au- 
tographs extant  in  the  time  of,  43,  59; 
historical  sketch  of  magic  by,  19;  di- 
vination praised  by,  18. 
Poet,  Virgil  called  the,  150. 
Poetry,  impression  of  the  ancient  world 

concerning,  15. 
Polexander,  adventures  of,  27. 
Pollio,  effort  of,  in  behalf  of  Virgil,  84; 
analysis  of   the  fourtli  eclogue  dedi- 
cated to,  161-163. 
Pompey,    mentioned    in   mediaeval   le- 
gend, 119. 
Pope,  quotation  from,  174. 
Posilippo,  origin  of  the  grotto  of,  222. 
Pozzuoli,     Virgil's    legendary   relatioa 

with  the  baths  of,  88. 
Prsestigium,  synonym  for  unholy  math- 
ematics, 21. 
Priestcraft,  Roman,  Virgil's  knowledge 

of,  16. 
Primus,  emblematic,  meaning  of,  71. 
Priscian,    imitated    by    the    mediaeval 

grammarians,  53. 
Priscianus,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 51. 
Proba  Faltonia,  cento  composed  by,  170. 
Probus,  desire  of,  that  Virgil  should  be 

canonized,  54;  study  of  Virgil  by,  43. 
Propertius,  the  ^neid  held  to  be  greater 

than  the  Iliad  by,  41. 
Ptolemseus,  proficiency  in  medicine  at- 
tributed to,  85. 
Prudentius,  allegory  agreeable  to   the 

readers  of,  73. 
Pucci,  legends  of  Virgil  mentioned  by, 
110,  193. 


Purchardus,  cited  as  au  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 

P.sychomachia,  the  poem  of  Prudentius 
alluded  to,  73. 

Quintilian,  manuscripts  in  Virgil's  hand 
extant  in  the  time  of,  43. 

Kadolphus  Cadomensis,  cited  as  an  im- 
itator of  Virgil,  52. 

Rathbode,  52. 

Reformation,  diabolism  flourished  dur- 
ing the,  38. 

Refulgentia.  necromancv  so  called,  82. 

Reinfrit  von  Braunschweig,  account  of 
the  mngnetberg  in,  25. 

Religio  Medici,  confession  in  the,  134 

Renars  Contrefait,  legend  of  Virgil  the 
lover  in  the,  1.39;  the  Salvatio  Romae 
ascribed  to  Virgil  in  the,  124. 

Rhodes,  no  rain  fell  on  the  statue  of 
Diana  it).  94. 

Rigbodo  of  Treves,  familiar  with  the 
-Eneid,  54. 

Rites,  religious,  imitated  by  magicians, 

Roger  of  Apulia,  legends  of  Virgil  men- 
tioned by,  19,3. 

Roman,  Virgil  called  the,  156. 

Romance,  concerning  the  deeds  of  the 
Lotharinsrians,  184;  of  Vespasian,  184; 
writing  of,  not  learned  from  the  Ara- 
bians, 16. 

Rome,  Virgil's  figure  well  known  to  the 
populace  of,  15;  Virgil's  home  there, 
IS;  emperor  of,  made  lo  figure  in  the 
affairs  of  Sicily,  7;  quakeil  when  Vir- 
gil was  born,  33;  epics  of,  numerous,  40; 
religion  of,  corrupted  bv  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  East,  43:  regard  for  tli"e  fame 
of,  among  barbarians,  60;  typified  by 
the  pine  tree  in  the  first  eclogue,  64; 
brazen  figure  found  by  Gerbert  in,  107. 
familar  to  the  nations  of  southern 
Europe,  115;  soldiers  of,  cosmopolitan 
in  their  experiences,  117;  the  magic 
temple  in,  described  in  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, 119;  mass  of  historic  reminiscence 
in,  120;  search  for  treasure  under  the 
Arch  of  Titus  in,  125;  contemptuous 
allusion  to  the  women  of,  144;  sacred 
books  of,  158;  Virgil's  sermon  in,  188; 
fountain  of  oil  in,  182. 
Romulus,  legend  concerning  the  image 

of,  in  the  temple  of  Concord,  182. 
Roth,  theory  of,  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
Virgilian  legend,  227. 

Sachs,  variation  on  the  story  of  the  magic 

bridge  by,  146. 
Sadducees,  opinion  attributed  to  the,  103. 
Saint  Martial,  Latin  mystery  performed 

in  the  Abbey  of,  178. 
St.  Mary  on  the  Altar  of  Heaven,  legend 

of  the  cliurch  of,  183. 
St.  Paul,  work  of  Virgil  on  Christian 

doctrine  found  by,  18S;  name  of,  con- 


248 


INDEX 


nected  with  that  of  Virgil  in  a  legend, 

180. 
St.  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the  Romans,  123. 
St.  Severiuus,  romance  conceruiug  tlie 

life  of,  1S4. 
Salomo,  eiied  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil, 

52. 
Salerno,  the  Salvatio  Romse  described 

by  an  author  of,  122;  crime  committed 

by  the  physicians  of,  89. 
Salvatio  Roinfe,  temple  built  at  Rome  by 

Virgil,  20;  possible  antiquity  of  the  tale 

concerning  the,  115. 
Samson,  mediaeval  humor  at  the  expense 

of,  138. 
Sarkaaf,  magic  duck  of  brass  made  by, 

119. 
Sarrazine,  epithet  applied  to  the  sibyl, 

183, 
Saxons,  relations  of,  to  the  Celts,  117. 
Scaliger,  excessive  praise  of  Virgil  by, 

201. 
Sceleris  vestigia  nostri.  Christian   inter- 
pretation oi,  162. 
Sedulius,  cento  composed  by,  171;  cited 

as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 
Scipio,  Dream  of,  explained  by  Macro- 

bius,  69. 
Scribonia,  gift  to  Virgil  from,  60. 
Scriptores  Rerura  Brunsvicensium,  2. 
Seerez  de  diviniie,  phrase  used  in  the 

Dolopathos,  76. 
Sellar,  opinion  of,  concerning  the  fourth 

eclogue,  166. 
Sende'bad,  the  oriental  tale  of  the  Seven 

Wise  men,  57. 
Sendebar,  Hebrew  version  of  Sendebad, 

57. 
Seneca,  allusion  of,  to  an  earthquake  in 

the  Campagna,  87;  coniemporary  of 

Professor  Virgil  at  Cordova,  82. 
Serpents,  subject  to  incantations,  93;  a 

plfigue  of,  ill  Constantinople,  96. 
Servius,  character  of,  in  Macrobius,  69; 

allusions  of,  to  Virgil's  medical  knowl- 
edge, 85;  drawn  into  the  allegorical 

mode  of  interpretation,  65:  comment 

of,  on  the  first  eclogue,  64;  remark  of, 

on  the  health  of  Virgil,  135. 
Servius  Sulpicius,  rain  of  fresh  meat  in 

the  consulship  of,  92. 
Seven  Wise  Masters,  Virgil  in  theEnglish 

chap  book  of  the,  129. 
Seven  Wezeers,  the.  unknown  in  Europe 

In  the  twelfth  century,  57. 
Seven  Wise  men,  statues  indicating  the 

succession  of  the  weeks  described  in 

the  romance  of  the,  127;  the  Salvatio 

Romse  ascribed  to  Virgil  in  the.  124. 
Shakespeare,    interpretations   of,    com- 
pared with  those  of  Virgil,  45;  varied 

use  of  the  works  of,  85. 
Ships,  created  by  magic,  34. 
Shipwreck,   synibolism  of   the,  in  the 

MrmiA,  71. 
Sibyl,  in  the  early  Christian  drama,  178; 

iii  works  of  art,  177. 
Sicily,  feats  of  the  magician  Heliodorus 


in,  98;  literary  result  from  the  con- 
quest of,  by  the  Normans,  6;  mention 
of,  in  L'lniage  du  Monde,  79. 

Sidonius,  compared  to  Virgil,  4^. 

Sigebert,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Signorie,  of  Virgil  in  the  schools,  59. 

Silius  Italicus,  proficiency  in  medicine 
attributed  to,  85. 

Solomon,  the  ars  notoria  communicated 
by  angels  to,  S3. 

Sortes  Virgilianse,  used  by  Charles  I.  of 
England,  205;  used  by  Roman  empe- 
rors, 44. 

Sortilegium,  a  branch  of  unholy  mathe- 
matics, 21. 

Spain,  Virgil  as  a  lover  in,  153-155;  pre- 
tensions of,  to  Southerji  Italy,  153; 
magic  taught  in  the  schools  of,  82. 

Spargana,  term  used  by  the  Greek  para- 
phrast  of  the  fourth  eclogue,  162. 

Spenser,  poems  of,  alluded  to,  73. 

Spoken  narratives,  changed  in  repeti- 
tion, 57. 

Statins,  Virgil's  birthday  celebrated  by, 
41. 

Statues,  endued  with  magical  powers, 
19;  automatic;  povvers  of,  126. 

Ptilicho,  Claudian's  account  of,  159. 

Stoic,  eccentricities  of,  mentioned  by 
John  of  Salisbury,  77. 

Sub  tegmine  fagi,  supposed  to  be  an  al- 
lusion to  the  possessions  conferred  on 
Virgil  by  Octavian,   64. 

Suetonius,  folk-lore  concerning  Virgil  in 
the  time  of,  61. 

Sylvester  II.,  exploits  of,  confounded 
with  those  of  Virgil,  107. 

Symmachus,  Virgil's  ability  as  a  rheto- 
rician discussed  by,  6S. 

Syntipas,  Greek  version  of  Sendebad,  57. 

Syrus,  cited  as  au  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Talismans,  philosophic  intent  of,  dififer- 
ent  from  that  of  the  automaton,  129; 
belief  in,  not  relinquished  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  95;  counterparts  of,  in  classic 
times,  19. 

Tereus,  the  swallows  offended  by  the 
crime  of,  93. 

Terque  quaterque  beati,  Macrobius's  ex- 
planation of,  69. 

Teuton,  prejudice  of  against  the  Roman, 
154. 

Teutonic  complexion  of  the  Virgilian 
legends,  24;  epics,  relation  of,  to  Vir- 
gil, 6. 

Theodulph,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Vir- 
gil, 52. 

Theodulus,  52. 

Thomas  a  Becket,  the  Polycraticus  ded- 
icated to,  77. 

Thorns,  work  of,  2. 

Thousand  and  One  Nights,  comparative- 
ly a  modern  compilation,  31. 

Ticknor,  Spanish  ballad  of  Virgil  cited 
by,  2,  139. 

Titvrus,  supposed  to  be  typical  of  Virgil, 
64. 


INDEX 


249 


Toledo,  Virgil  a  professor  in,  82;  a  schol- 
ar in,  33. 

Trajan,  legend  of,  119,  121. 

Trithemius,  the  Virgilian  legends  cred- 
ited by,  205. 

Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  the  mediaeval 
curriculum,  58. 

Trojans,  typical  meaning  of  the  con- 
quest of  the  Latins  by  the,  73. 

Trouveres,  notions  of,  concerning  Virgil, 
75. 

Tuba,  epithet  applied  to  Lucan  by  Henry 
the  Poor,  48. 

UflFo,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 

Ulysses,  symbolism  of,  71. 

Upsilou,  emblematic  of  humanity,  65. 

Valentinian,  cento  composed  by,  169. 

Vatican,  account  of  the  Salvatio  Romae 
in  the  library  of  the,  122. 

Venantius  Fortunatus,  cited  as  an  imi- 
tator of  Virgil,  52. 

Venice,  indebtedness  of  early  German 
literature  to,  32. 

Vesuvius,  eruptions  of,  restrained  by  a 
statue,  99. 

Vettius,  Virgil's  proficiency  in  Roman 
sacerdotalism  discussed  by,  68. 

Victorinus,  use  made  of  Virgil  by,  170. 

Vida,  quotation  from  the  Poetics  of,  195. 

Vigenere,  legends  of  Virgil  credited  by, 
205. 

Vilgard,  incited  by  a  dream  to  the  study 
of  Virgil,  54. 

Vi  mathesis,  term  used  by  Gervase,  21, 
102. 

Vincent  of  Beauvais,  Helinand's  account 
of  Virgil  reproduced  by,  89. 

Virgil,  respect  paid  to  the  tomb  of,  in 
Naples,  63;  forced  interpretations  of, 
by  the  grammarians,  15,  65;  master  of 
the  whole  circle  of  learning,  66;  spec- 
tre of,  evoked  by  Fulgentius,  70;  al- 
ready legendary  in  the  sixth  century, 
73;  interpretations  of,  in  the  twelfth 
century,  74;  allegorically  interpreted 
by  Dante,  75;  book  on  the  seven  arts 
credited  to,  76;  book  of  necromancy 
buried  with,  77;  professorship  at  Cor- 
dova held  by,  82;  search  of,  for  the  sep- 
ulchre of  Chiron,  SO;  pretense  that  he 
was  an  Arabian  phih'jsopher,  81;  genius 
of,  recognized  at  Mantua, 84;  proficien- 
cy in  medicine  attributed  to,  86;  re- 
sentment of,  toward  the  town  of  Nola, 
86;  supposed  to  have  been  a  consul  at 
Naples,  87;  garden  of,  11,  88;  anxiety  of, 
to  benefit  humanity,  88;  medicinal 
baths  of,  88;  appearance  of,  to  scholars 
of  the  twelfth  century,  90;  the  stories 
concerning,  common  to  other  names, 
6,  7, 13,  95,  107;  use  of  name  of,  in  le- 
gendary narratives,  a  happy  stroke,  20; 
96;  a  sculptured  head  that  talked  made 
by,  97;  faces  in  Parian  marble  by,  103; 
Objects  of  ancient  art  associated  with 
the  name  of,  104,  144,  150;  death  of,  as 


related  in  legend,  109, 128,  181,  188;  in 
the  tale  of  the  pound  of  flesh,  109;  le- 
gendarv  characteristics  of,  as  a  lover, 
134,  135,  137,  143,  151, 153;  poor  family  in 
Rome  befriended  by,  139;  relation  of, 
to  the  trial  by  ordeal,  140;  tales  related 
by,  in  the  Dolopathos,  141;  magic  ship 
made  by,  146,  147;  impersonated  by  a 
demon,  149;  classical  and  post-classical 
appellations  of,  156;  Christians  attract- 
ed to  the  fourth  eclogue  of,158;  efforts 
of,  to  increase  superstitious  regard  for 
the  sibyl,  164;  ascetic  purity  of  life  at- 
tributed to,  167;  legendary  place  of,  in 
the  church,  11,  168;  use  of,'by  the  gram- 
marians, 58, 168;  works  of,  viewed  as 
quasi-inspired,  170;  likeness  of,  to  the 
Christian  ideal,  175;  representation  of, 
in  the  mysteries,  178;  the  Star  of  Bethle- 
hem seen  by,  179;  St.  Paul's  visit  to  the 
tomb  of,  180;  the  name  of  Nero  associ- 
ated with  that  of,  184;  the  historical 
repute  of,  distinguished  from  the  le- 
gendary, 187;  a  sermon  delivered  by, 
188;  legends  of,  related  only  in  a  sec- 
ondary way  to  folk-lore,  8,  191;  the 
French  pseudo-biography  of,  widely 
paraphrased,  33,  203;  the  iEneid  of,  a 
system  of  politics  in  verse,  209;  list  of 
\7orks  by  antiquaries  upon,  226;  Neck- 
am's  catalogue  of  the  legendary 
achievements  of,  10;  made  to  figure  in 
the  aff"airsof  Sicily,  7,  58;  influence  of, 
on  the  Teutonic  epics,  6;  alchemy  at- 
tributed to,  by  Vincent,  6;  lack  of 
works  in  English  on  the  magical  re- 
pute of,  1;  figure  of,  in  the  Dolopathos, 
12;  biography  of,  13,  14;  relations  of 
Horace  to,  14;  applauded  in  a  theatre, 
15;  germs  of  legend  latent  in  contem- 
porary views  taken  of,  16,  39;  profici- 
ency in  astrology  claimed  for,  16;  won- 
der "working  of,  subjected  to  the  fairy 
cult,  23;  demonism  of,  12,  24.  25,  S3; 
name  of,  used  in  a  childrens'  game  in 
Poland,  30;  said  to  have  been  impris- 
oned by  Octavian,  34;  works  of,  a  mo- 
saic, 39;  religious  honors  awarded  to, 
41;  contemporary  criticism  on,  41;  var- 
ied use  made  of  his  verses,  42,  43,  50; 
called  the  Plato  of  poets,  45;  condemn- 
ed by  church  writers,  46,  53;  mediaeval 
poets  praised  as  the  rivals  of,  49;  name 
of,  included  in  chronicles,  50;  list  of 
mediaeval  poets  whose  style  was  affect- 
ed by,  51,  .52;  grammar  published  in 
the  name  of,  53;  poet  as  well  as  learned 
clerk,  in  the  romances,  13.  55;  promi- 
nence of,  in  the  Dolopathos,  57.  236;  an 
enthusiastic  student  of  antiquities, 60; 
said  to  have  been  the  slave  of  Octa- 
vian, 63. 

Virgilii  Cordubensis  Philosophia,  a  pre- 
tended book  of  science  in  the  name  of 
Virgil,  81. 

Virum.  emblematic  meaning  of,  71. 

Volumnius,  rain  of  fresh  meat  in  the 
consulate  of,  92. 


250 


IN  BEX 


Von  der  Hagen.  stories  aocat  Virgil  re- 
lated b\ ,  196. 

Vyces,  meciiamcal  contrivance  in  Vir- 
gil's tomb,  128. 

Wagenseil.  reference  to,  26. 

M'alafrid  Strabo,  cited  as  an  imitator  of 
Virgil.  52. 

Waldo,  52. 

Warburtoii,  the  ^Bneid  as  a  political  al- 
legory explained  bv,  207;  thieories  of, 
refuted,  219. 

Wartburgkrieg,  account  of  Virgil's  book 
of  magic  in  the.  80. 

Warton,  reference  to,  2. 

Weltbuch,  reference  to  Von  Muglin's,  SO; 
reference  to  Enenkel's,  138. 

Wesobrunn,    the    Salvatio    RomsB    de- 


scribed in  a  manuscript  preserved  at, 

122. 
Wido,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 
William  of  Apulia,  52. 
William  ot  Chester,  52. 
William  of  Vjrcelli,  monastery  on  Mt. 

Virgil  founded  by,  86. 
Wise,  Virgil  called'the,  156. 
Wolstan,  cited  as  an  imitator  of  Virgil,  52. 
Woman,  dishonorable  view  taken  of,  in 

medieval  times,  140. 
Wright,  reference  to,  2. 

Zabulon,  the  birth  of  the  Saviour  fore- 
seen by,  25. 

Zappert,"  literary  aspect  of  Virgil's  me- 
diaeval renown,  226:  reference  to,  2. 


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